New provincial housing program finds scant support at Coquitlam, Port Moody councils

A new provincial housing program received a lukewarm reception from both Coquitlam and Port Moody councils.

Launched in February, 2024, BC Builds is aiming to form partnerships with municipalities to identify underutilized public land to quickly build rental housing for middle-income earners.

“Nurses and teachers and transit operators, construction workers and others … make a decent living, but can’t find a place to rent,” said BC Builds executive Lisa Helps. “What’s happening is they’re putting pressure on the lower income rental stock, which then is pushing people out the bottom to homelessness.”

Elected representatives of two Tri-Cities municipalities, however, seemed unmoved by the proposal, countering that city staff were overwhelmed by recent changes to provincial housing legislation, or had a lack of available public land.

The BC Builds program claims to be able to shorten project timelines from three to five years to 12 to 18 months.

With $2 billion in financing from the federal government, the program can provide grants up to $225,000 per unit if the building is owned by a non-profit or Indigenous development corporation.

Because the current cost of land, construction, and interest rates are so high, subsidizing these projects should lower mortgage and rent prices on the back end, argued Helps.

BC Builds’ goal is to get 8,000 and 10,000 housing units started over the next five years, and Helps is currently pitching the program to every municipality across the province.

Partnerships are also being sought with local governments, faith groups, First Nations and others looking to redevelop underutilized lands into housing projects

Helps said the “magic” of the program is to source sites not typically envisioned for potential housing, as well as its ability to collaborate with residential developers and landowners.

Rather than working through a project sequentially, Helps described the program as a “rocket ship” which readies land, feasibility studies, partnerships, financing, and approvals simultaneously through its Project Steering Committee.

The committee would act as an “obstacle clearing house” and coordinate every few weeks.

“BC Builds is like a housing accelerator,” she said. “It’s not just the grant funding and financing, but the ability to move quickly.”

The program is looking for any site with redevelopment potential where housing could be added on top; this includes infrastructure assets like libraries, fire halls, daycares, and even city halls.

“Rather than the taxpayer just getting one thing on a piece of land, there’s an opportunity to get two things,” Helps said. “It’s leveraging potentially millions of dollars in provincial funding.”

Helps cited a project led by the City North Vancouver, where an old municipally owned single-storey neighbourhood house is now being redeveloped into an 18-storey tower, complete with 180 units for middle income households, a food bank, childcare spaces, and various programming. A six-storey affordable housing project by BC Housing is also planned for the site.

The province is looking at the BC Builds program as a long-term housing investment which stays community owned, similar to housing co-ops built in the 1970s and 1980s, according to Helps.

“When those co-ops started, they were at market or close to market rents. Now 30 or 40 years later, they’re deeply below market because they’re in community hands,” she said.

The BC Builds program has an ongoing intake, and applications would be judged based on land, housing need in the community, and financial ability to operate without an ongoing subsidy.

BC Builds’ proposal was largely rebuffed in Coquitlam council chambers on April 15, with many taking aim at new provincial housing legislation.

Coun. Matt Djonlic said that while the program might work for a house of worship or a legion, it’s not a match for the municipality.

He added the impact of recent housing legislation has slowed down development in the community.

“I certainly don’t support our city putting forward land to be used with the B.C. Builds project,” Djonlic said.

Mayor Richard Stewart concurred, describing the city as “reeling” with an overwhelming amount of change that was imposed on municipalities “with no consultation.”

Coun. Brent Asmundson said the province was complicating the issue by creating another housing agency, noting the city’s challenges working with the B.C. HousingHub.

“We made applications a few years ago. Got three projects – all rejected,” Asmundson said, adding the new legislation had “basically taken away all our tools to be successful.”

Port Moody council’s reaction to the program on April 16 was less chilly, but far from enthusiastic.

Coun. Diana Dilworth questioned how BC Builds would help Port Moody staff accelerate approval processes, without taking time away from other significant planning priorities.

“Staff are kind of still trying to grasp the new legislation that was recently enacted, and it is slowing down a number of processes that are taking place at city hall,” Dilworth said.

She added Port Moody is already building a significant amount of housing, hitting targets of both the province and housing needs assessment.

Dilworth also raised concerns about provincial funding for schools and hospitals required to accommodate the growth resulting from provincial housing dictates.

Helps responded that BC Builds is not seeking to impose projects, but rather looking for community-led projects to back.

She said it was up to the city whether staff time would be redirected towards any proposal.

Regarding school and healthcare funding, Helps speculated that both the federal and provincial governments will be looking to spend where more housing is being built.

“That’s certainly the signals that came from the federal budget, certainly the signals in the Prime Minister’s pre-budget tour,” Helps said. “Municipalities who are building housing are the ones that are going to get those infrastructure dollars.”

Coun. Haven Lurbiecki said that while the program might work in communities which have plenty of underused public land, Port Moody is not one of those places.

“Port Moody (has) very little public land, and in terms of unused public land, even less,” she said.

Some councillors, however, did express some interest in how the local lands could be used through the program.

Coun. Amy Lubik said there were some non-profit rental projects that are in the very early stages of the development progress, adding the city is in the midst of updating its rental policies and incentives.

She requested staff flag potential projects which could benefit from the BC Builds initiative.

Patrick Penner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Tri-Cities Dispatch