Hi everyone, Mark Iype in Edmonton today.
At a time when it sometimes seems like there is more division than cohesion in the country, there remain some issues that affect Canadians from coast to coast. And in the last year, perhaps nothing hits that mark like the housing crisis. People are struggling to afford milk and gas for their car, while at the same time mortgage rates are soaring and rent is ballooning out of reach for many.
But British Columbia, which has some of the most unaffordable housing markets in the country, has spent the past year making a number of policy changes with one goal in mind: getting people into homes.
As Frances Bula reported in The Globe this week, the B.C. government has made a number of changes such as new housing targets, rules to densify neighbourhoods around transit hubs and the province has eliminated those time-consuming public hearings on projects that should just get approved if they conform to official city plans.
Overall, there have been 22 housing-related announcements and legislative actions by the province in the past year – most in the past two months – action that has been significantly faster than other provinces and the federal government.
“They’re far ahead of anyone else when it comes to ambition and policy seriousness,” said Mike Moffatt, a Western University economics professor and senior director at the Smart Prosperity Institute. “What impresses me the most is that they recognize there’s no one silver bullet. The entire package is impressive.”
Echoing that sentiment have been a number of academics and industry players.
Anne McMullin, the chief executive officer of B.C.’s Urban Development Institute, which represents builders, was similarly effusive. “We have not seen this kind of fundamental change for decades,” she said.
But while B.C.’s efforts have been lauded by some observers for tackling the housing crisis head on, rapid, neighbourhood-altering change doesn’t come without worry and some detractors.
Former NDP premier Mike Harcourt has blasted the government’s plans, especially for dense housing near transit, saying it will threaten existing low-cost apartments, heritage areas and overall regional planning.
Vancouver city councillor Pete Fry said he is concerned about proposed legislation intended to standardize the fees developers pay to governments. It will, in effect, prohibit cities from using this money for affordable housing.
“That’s a big flag for me,” he said. In 2022, the city allocated $32-million to affordable housing out of the $219-million it collected in these fees.
But despite some vocal opposition, B.C. Premier David Eby, at a housing convention in Vancouver last month, said his government of “known radicals” is going to push for even more housing-related changes in the months ahead.
Things may be just getting started.
This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief Mark Iype. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.
Wendy Cox