British Columbia Premier David Ibe says the changes will help speed up provincial permit approvals and housing construction amid a housing crisis.
The province unveiled a one-stop shop approach to provincial permits to help speed approvals and construction to build more homes amid the housing crisis.
“Today we are taking action to remove barriers to building the homes we need,” Premier David Eby said Monday in an announcement at the University of British Columbia
“We’re going to identify those high-impact housing projects and move them through the system, maintaining those high standards, but prioritizing them through the system to get them out the door so we can start building, which we desperately we need because our population growth has been dramatic,” Eby said.
Residential development in British Columbia can require multiple provincial permit applications involving various ministries and processes, including permits related to riparian zone approvals, water licenses, transportation approvals, road diversions, contaminated sites and heritage inspection requirements , according to the province.
The average approval time is two years “and obviously the goal is to improve that,” Eby said in a media release after the announcement. “The goal is to reduce that dramatically” — from years to months.
The permitting strategy will be streamlined, potentially eliminating the need for multiple applications to ministries, the province says.
“It’s more than just a place to drop off your request,” Ibby said. “Our goal is an expedited process where information does not have to be resubmitted, revised and redefined by multiple decision makers throughout the process.”
The government has introduced several housing-related changes since Eby became premier in November, including changes to the Housing Supply Act to set targets in the province’s fastest-growing municipalities, as well as the Strata Property Act to to open up more rental opportunities and more housing for families.
Eby said municipalities in British Columbia have historically cited long wait times for provincial approvals and now the province is doing its part.
“One thing that is obvious to me is that every time I’ve raised this issue, the mayors have rightly pointed out the problem and said, ‘Look, you’ve got to put your own house in order’ … So that’s all that today’s announcement about – he said. “We’re doing our part, we’re doing the job.”
While the single application process is established in the coming months, an interagency team focused solely on housing permit processing will be in place to expedite permits and approvals.
To start, 42 new full-time positions will prioritize housing that most urgently needs to be built, such as Indigenous-led projects, BC Housing applications and multi-unit building applications.
Once these positions are filled, the plan is to grow the team to 203 positions.
ceharnett@timescolonist.com
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