The Province’s new BC Builds initiative is becoming a cornerstone of their plan to provide more housing to British Columbians—especially those in the middle-income class.
For this endeavour, BC put aside $2 billion in provincial low-cost construction financing to acquire land that is unused by government and industry along with $950 million to fund the program itself which will work to cut red tape and allow for developers and builders to get construction done easier and faster.
Now, the Canadian government has announced that they too will contribute to BC Builds in the spirit of making a dent in the current housing crisis.
They will be providing the Province with $2 billion in additional funding.
“All levels of government need to work together to solve the housing crisis,” said Premier David Eby.
“With the federal government’s contribution and partnership toward BC Builds, we can help build more homes people can actually afford. That’s good news for our economy and for our future, but most importantly it’s good news for British Columbians looking for a decent place to live.”
BC Builds was only announced last week on February 13th and will be administered through BC Housing.
They will be putting in the work to acquire land and speed up construction processes.
All that they deliver through this program is geared toward middle-income families who make around $85,000 per year.
The goal of this program is to have the rents for the new homes built through BC Builds be at around 30% of the families income.
In addition to this, there will be an emphasis put on building three and four-bedroom units for those with children.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew out to Vancouver in order to make this announcement alongside Premier Eby.
“Canada needs more homes that the middle class can afford. That’s what today’s historic partnership with British Columbia is all about,” said Trudeau.
“Our investment, through the BC Builds Program, will use public land to create more affordable housing, bring down the cost of construction and ensure that we build more homes faster so that Canadians—from teachers, to nurses, to construction workers—can afford to stay in the communities where they work.”
With the amount of money being poured into this project, the Province hopes that new construction projects being delivered by the program will be able to be completed between 12 to 18 months from concept to construction.
It is anticipated that BC Builds will deliver between 8,000 and 10,000 new homes in the first five years of the program.
There are already three projects under this program on the go, including one for the Cowichan Tribes First Nation near Duncan.
During the Premier and Prime Minister’s announcement of this additional funding, they also announced a fourth project to get underway soon.
The new BC Builds site is in Vancouver, located at 560 Davie Street and 1210 Seymour Street. It will be nine storeys tall and will have 121 co-operative homes for middle-income families.
The Province says that a minimum of 20% of units will rent at 20% below market, with a goal of delivering more than this number of units at below-market rates.
Meanwhile, the BC Green Party’s leader Sonia Fursteneau has been critical of this program, saying it is the low-income people who the government should be providing this funding for, as they are the most vulnerable and at-risk of becoming unhoused.
“With this housing announcement, the BC NDP have abandoned British Columbians who struggle the most with costs of living,” said Furstenau at the time of the first BC Builds announcement.
“Premier Eby has chosen to support British Columbians with earnings over $85,000 per year, ignoring the desperate reality the majority of British Columbians are facing. Where is the support for the truly middle income households, who make up over half of BC’s population,” she asked.
