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Following is an opinion signed by the mayors of 12 of the largest cities in British Columbia, including Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran and Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian.
People who work in our cities cannot afford to live in them. Young people cannot buy housing. Families live in spaces too small for their needs, because that’s what they can afford. Students live in vans. Too many people experience homelessness. All this is not new, it has been done for years. And now it’s a crisis.
Our province is home to four of Canada’s fastest-growing communities, with more than 100,000 people migrating to British Columbia in 2021. Only 47,607 new homes have been created this year. Maintaining this growth rate puts a strain on municipalities. For example, in a few months, rents in Victoria and Vancouver jumped by 20% between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022.
The recent federal budget and indications coming from the office of the Minister of Housing in the province of Abby, taken together – and in partnership with the cities – may begin to deal with the real crisis that is upon us.
The federal budget for 2022 is committed to doubling the number of new homes built over the next 10 years. The unifying cry of the federal government that “this must become a major national effort and will require a new spirit of cooperation” can only be achieved with cities as partners. With the right tools, resources and powers, our municipalities will achieve these ambitious goals.
As mayors, we see too many of our residents still homeless. And we hear about the impact of people living in public places on our small business. Local, provincial, and federal collaboration developed during the pandemic, where the Federal Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI) saw that supportive housing built quickly in almost all of our communities is the basis for upgrading. Budget 2022 shows good intentions that need to be followed by concrete actions to be successful.
We are excited to see an additional $ 1.5 billion RHI investment to continue tackling homelessness, and we will work hard to ensure that BC receives its share of funding in this round. We are also grateful for the continued doubling of Reaching Home funding. It is a direct federal investment in our communities to tackle homelessness and provide much-needed programs and services to those most vulnerable.
We are concerned that there was no more funding for the urban homelessness of the indigenous population. $ 300 million over five years is not enough to meet the needs of the indigenous population displaced on our streets due to the effects of colonization and the housing school system. More needs to be done to adequately accommodate indigenous peoples who are disproportionately represented, and this housing needs to be run by indigenous peoples.
The cornerstone of the 2022 Budget Housing Fund is the $ 4 billion Housing Acceleration Fund; this is where we can really move into action. To be effective, the program must be easy to access and as flexible as possible. Cities need to be empowered to use funding to meet the needs of individual communities, including hiring staff, updating licensing systems, streamlining processes, acquiring land and other solutions that will get the job done faster and see more housing built. There is no shortage of incoming housing applications, we just need capacity and resources to speed them up.
Funding from the Housing Accelerator must be paid to local authorities without requiring prior funding from the province or project approval. Working with the provincial government, as municipal leaders, we can use this funding ourselves.
The Minister for Housing in British Columbia, David Ibby, recently made headlines with the need for local authorities to approve more housing faster. We are ready for the challenge. In 2019, the provincial government passed legislation requiring local authorities to conduct housing needs assessments every five years. The province must propose legislation requiring us to build the required number of homes in our communities. They need to provide the necessary additional powers, resources and tools and – together with investments from the Federal Housing Acceleration Fund – leave us with how to get there.
This “great national effort” to boom in housing after a pandemic will be committed by all of us. The federal budget signals that cities are key partners in tackling this challenge. BC Urban Mayors’ Caucus is ready for this, for our residents and business now and for future generations.
– Colin Basran, Kelowna; Malcolm Brody, Richmond, Ken Christian, Kamloops, Jonathan Coote, New Westminster; Lynn Hall, City of Prince George; Fred Haynes, Saanich County; Lisa helps, Victoria; Mike Hurley, Burnaby; Leonard Krog, Nanaimo; Doug McCallum, Surrey; Richard Stewart, Coquitlam, Stewart Kennedy, Vancouver.
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