Better Dwelling

Better Dwelling is a Vancouver-based daily news publisher and financial media company. It operates Canada's largest independent housing news outlet.[1]

Better Dwelling
Better Dwelling Logo
TypeDaily
FormatOnline
Owner(s)Better Dwelling Inc.
Founder(s)Stephen Punwasi (co-founder)
PublisherBetter Dwelling Inc.
Staff writersStephen Punwasi
Daniel Wong
Kaitlin Last
Daniel Tencer
Daniel Foch
Tiffany Greene
Joey Evans
Founded2017
Political alignmentNon-partisan
LanguageEnglish
HeadquartersVancouver, Canada
CityVancouver
CountryCanada
ISSN2371-8528
Websitehttps://betterdwelling.com

History

Better Dwelling was founded in 2017 as a real estate news service that used artificial intelligence to assist with its data journalism. It was co-founded by Stephen Punwasi.

In 2017, the company began a daily news syndication service carried by mainstream news publishers such as Business Insider, HuffPost,[2] and Maclean's.[3]

Better Dwelling has reported on the Canadian property bubble and housing crisis.[4] The organization and its staff have collaborated on research with Canada's national housing agency[5] and Transparency International Canada.[6]

In 2021, Better Dwelling was collateral damage in a controversy surrounding Big Tech's censorship of criticism of China and Optimum Publishing International. The outlet had published what was described by Canadian newspaper National Post as an "innocuous" clip of an interview with Optimum author and Global News reporter Sam Cooper, discussing his coverage of the Cullen Commission. [7] Shortly after publishing the video clip, the outlet's staff was removed from managing its Facebook page. The page was later restored with Facebook stating it was an error.[8]

Research

Money laundering and property

The outlet has played a key role in exposing money laundering in Canadian real estate. Notable contributions involve publishing a leaked Canadian intelligence report that alleges transnational criminals have used housing Vancouver, Canada for laundering since the 1990s[9] and an analysis with Transparency International on billions in opaque ownership in Toronto.[10]

In 2019, the CEO was thanked for their contribution to a report on money laundering and real estate, created at the request of the Government of British Columbia and produced by former RCMP Commissioner Peter German. The report was central to launching the Cullen Commission, B.C.'s anti-money laundering inquiry.[11]

The organization's staff testified how money laundering impacts real estate prices at the Cullen Commission, BC's Inquiry Into Money Laundering.[12]

References
  1. Maddeaux, Sabrina (2021-10-28). "Sabrina Maddeaux: Facebook, Twitter are silencing China critics and it is corrosive to our democracy". National Post. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  2. "Better Dwelling". HuffPost. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  3. Wong, Daniel (2018-02-16). "Canadian real estate sales just fell the most since 2008. Here's why". Macleans.ca. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  4. "Vancouver housing market is not going to crash". www.vice.com. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  5. "CMHC Housing Finance Symposium 2017 Speakers" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-11-03.
  6. "Our Work". Transparency International Canada. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  7. Maddeaux, Sabrina (2021-10-28). "Sabrina Maddeaux: Facebook, Twitter are silencing China critics and it is corrosive to our democracy". National Post. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  8. "FIRST READING: Censorship is chic again!". torontosun. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  9. Greene, Tiffany. "Chinese billionaires, gangsters, and spies have been influencing Canadian real estate for ages". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  10. "Opacity: Why Criminals Love Canadian Real Estate (And How to Fix It)" (PDF). Transparency International. Toronto: Transparency International Canada: 60. 2019.
  11. German, QC, PhD, Peter (March 31, 2019). "DIRTY MONEY – PART 2: Turning the Tide - An Independent Review of Money Laundering in B.C. Real Estate, Luxury Vehicle Sales & Horse Racing" (PDF). Government of British Columbia. Peter German & Associates Inc. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-05-10. Retrieved November 18, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. "Overview Report: Lower Mainland Housing Prices" (PDF). Government of BC. Cullen Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in BC. 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-15.
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