Here's how B.C.'s new premier plans to tackle the affordable housing crisis
CTV
British Columbia Premier David Eby has announced new measures aimed at increasing the supply of new homes and lifting rental restrictions on strata units as the province grapples with an affordable housing crisis.
Eby, who was B.C.'s housing minister before becoming premier, says that if passed, his government's new Housing Supply Act will identify municipalities with the greatest need for more homes and will set new housing targets for those communities.
The province says it has already identified eight to 10 communities where the new housing targets would be implemented based on census data, community plans and projected population growth.
The premier says the province will work with municipal governments to set the housing benchmarks but ultimately it will be up to the municipalities to decide how to achieve them.
Under the new legislation, if those community housing benchmarks are not met, the province could issue directives and orders in council to compel communities to comply with the law as a last resort.
"I want to assure municipal leaders that I hold the province to the same standard," Eby told reporters at the B.C. legislature Monday. "We need to do better on permits, we need to provide support to cities, and we will do so."
If passed, the Housing Supply Act would take effect in mid-2023, and the eight to 10 municipalities subjected to the housing targets would be notified after the law is enacted, the province says.
The premier, standing alongside Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto, also proposed amendments to the province's Strata Property Act that would ban most rental restrictions and age restrictions in strata buildings.
The province says age-based restrictions, like those in adult-only strata buildings, make it difficult for families to find housing, and force people to move if they have children.
