Relocating to Kelowna

By road, 1085 Martin Avenue is 391 km from Vancouver, about 4 hours 10 minutes by the Okanagan Connector (Highway 97C) and the Coquihalla (Highway 5), and 603 km from Calgary, about 6 hours 50 minutes by the Trans-Canada Highway. Edmonton is 892 km, about 9 hours 30 minutes by the fastest route via Highway 2. Winter conditions on the mountain passes can lengthen all three.

By air, Kelowna International Airport lists nonstop service to Calgary on Air Canada, Flair and WestJet, to Edmonton on Flair and WestJet, and to Vancouver on Air Canada, WestJet, Air North and Central Mountain Air. Some routes are seasonal. The airport is a 15-minute drive from the building.

New BC residents wait the rest of the month you become a BC resident, plus two more months before MSP coverage starts. People moving from another province keep their former plan during the wait. Apply as soon as you arrive. Each family member's wait is counted from their own arrival date.

BC gives presale buyers seven days to cancel a purchase contract without penalty. The seven days start on the later of the day you sign the contract and the day you give the developer your acknowledgement that you had the chance to read the disclosure statement. The developer can send the disclosure statement electronically only with your written consent.

If you decide to cancel, the notice has to be served in writing, delivered in person or by registered mail to the developer or its brokerage at the address in the disclosure statement or your contract. From another province, plan how you would do that before the seven days start.

Your deposit is held in trust in British Columbia by a brokerage, lawyer or notary, unless the developer has deposit insurance. Use a BC lawyer or notary for the purchase, and ask early how they handle signing for clients outside the province.

The newly built home exemption removes the tax on a new home worth up to $1,100,000, with a partial exemption up to $1,150,000. You need to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, the home must be your principal residence, and you must move in within 92 days of registration and live there for the rest of the first year. It is not limited to first-time buyers. Being new to BC does not disqualify you. The first time home buyers' program is different: it needs at least a year of BC residence before registration, or two BC tax returns in the last six years.

Kelowna is in BC's speculation and vacancy tax area. Every owner must declare by March 31 each year. For 2026 the rate is 1% of assessed value for Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are not untaxed worldwide earners, and 3% for foreign owners and untaxed worldwide earners, rising to 4% for that group in 2027. A home that is your principal residence, or is rented to a tenant for at least 6 months of the year, is generally exempt.

The federal Underused Housing Tax no longer applies: owners do not file or pay for 2025 and later years.

Serenity is at 1085 Martin Avenue, on the corner of Gordon Drive, east of downtown. Downtown at Bernard Avenue and Water Street is a 4-minute drive or a 22-minute walk, Kelowna General Hospital a 6-minute drive, Okanagan College a 6-minute drive and UBC Okanagan about 15 minutes by car. The City's permit report counts 9 bus stops within 300 metres. Times are approximate, from 1085 Martin Avenue.

A presale's completion date is an estimate and can move. Renting first, and treating the new home as the later step, takes that uncertainty out of your move date and lets you test the neighbourhood before your address is fixed.