[eisbaar]

I have not been to Vancouver, but it sounds very attractive: next to the sea and the mountains, good health care, working democracy and civilization and so on.

It does not sound implausible that housing prices are soaring.

Also perhaps a lot of government regulation that make it difficult to build more housing.

And there are other sources of money besides "money laundering" - why assume of all sources, "money laundering" is the driving force?

Like lets say newly rich Chinese people appreciate the investment in Vancouver. Is that then "money laundering"? Do they just equate "foreign investors" with "money laundering"?

[hnick]

I think the fact they're not allowed to take money out of China makes it laundering by definition. They're hiding illegal money from the Chinese government (once it leaves China it's illegal to hold as I understand it) and legitimising it in Canada. From Canada's perspective, it's probably not laundering depending on how it was originally earned.

> next to the sea and the mountains

Next to the US is probably another big reason but I'm not sure how much that matters with planes.

[eisbaar]

OK if they consider all Chinese investments "money laundering", their theory seems more plausible. Still needs verification, though.