B.C. touts speed of major housing program to mark one-year anniversary

British Columbia’s government celebrated the first anniversary of one of its cornerstone housing programs at the groundbreaking of a 179-unit rental building in North Vancouver, which it says went from concept to construction in 14 months.

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said during a news conference April 4 that 1,400 homes are underway since the start of the BC Builds program with nearly 2,500 more in various stages of early development.

“So, this is just the beginning of this program. We look forward to being able to do a lot more,” he said.

The $950 million, multi-year program provides grants and loans for new rental developments and promises to speed up project timelines to get homes constructed.

Bowinn Ma, the New Democrat member of the legislature for North Vancouver-Lonsdale, said the program is accelerating the permitting process.

“It wasn’t so long ago, when I was pregnant with my first child, that I commented that it was faster to create an entire human being than it was to just get the permitting process underway for a home for a growing family,” she said.

North Vancouver Mayor Linda Buchanan said the support from BC Builds sped up her community’s plan “by years.”

“This is the largest investment in housing for everyday people our city has seen in a generation,” she said.

The province spent $24.5 million on construction of the rental building through a BC Builds grant, while the City of North Vancouver is contributing the land and $49.5 million to the project that will include a community services provider on the lower levels.

Earlier in the day, the government announced the beginning of construction on three rental housing developments through BC Builds that are expected to create a total of 236 new on-reserve rental homes for three First Nations.

The three developments will be owned and operated by the Cowichan Tribes, the Lake Babine Nation and the Tsawout First Nation.

River’s Edge, the Cowichan Tribes development, will provide 200 one- and two-bedroom homes.

“These 200 new homes, at the edge of the Quw’utsun Sta’lo’ (Cowichan River), which has sustained our people physically and spiritually for millennia, will transform the lives of our people,” Cowichan Tribes Chief Sulsulxumaat Cindy Daniels said in a statement.