“This change in behaviour, and the tax continuing to capture speculators while exempting almost all British Columbians, shows this tax is working for the people of our province,” Finance Minister Selina Robinson said in the statement. But housing experts doubt that the tax has had much effect on either the rental market or affordability. Casey Edge, executive director of the Victoria Residential Builders’ Association, said a Canada Mortgage and Housing rental housing report suggested the rental vacancy rate in Greater Victoria dropped to 1.0 per cent in 2019 and that in 2020 any small improvement in the rate was due to university and college students staying home during the pandemic instead of moving into the region.