The BC Secondary Suite Incentive Program assists qualifying homeowners to create a new secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit (a “Secondary Suite”) on the property of their principal residence (“Property”), by providing a forgivable loan in the amount of 50% of the Secondary Suite’s construction costs, subject to a maximum loan amount. It must be rented at no more than a rent affordability limit for at least five years to a tenant who is not an immediate family member, and the loan amount will be forgiven over five years if all of the program requirements are satisfied.
After indicating that such activity likely would be a source of property income, and before finding that the forgivable loan when received would reduce the cost of the property pursuant to s. 13(7.1) or 53(2)(k), CRA stated (without reference to Consumers’ Gas):
When government assistance is received in the course of earning income from a business or property, the application of well-accepted business principles for the purpose of calculating profit (or loss) under section 9 of the Act commonly require that the cost of the asset or the amount of the expense to which the assistance relates be reduced accordingly.