VICTORIA — The Province of B.C. is reporting housing targets have delivered 16,130 net new homes, built across the first 30 priority municipalities and its now looking to add more.
A fourth group of priority communities will soon be given housing targets after they were announced in 2024 for the second and third sets of communities.
“Many in the fourth group are already leaders in building more homes,” a release states. “By joining the housing targets program, they will demonstrate that all communities, big and small, have a vital role to play in addressing the housing crisis.”
The group will include Burnaby, Coquitlam, Courtenay, the Township of Langley, Langford, Penticton, Pitt Meadows, Richmond, Squamish and Vernon. Targets for these communities will be set following consultation and will reflect 75 per cent of each municipality’s estimated housing need.
“Burnaby has been proactive in delivering the housing our community needs,” said Mike Hurley, mayor of Burnaby, in a statement. “By streamlining our planning process and reducing barriers, we’ve increased our housing starts. In 2024, we issued permits for more than 2,300 homes, and so far this year we have issued permits for more than 4,000 more.”
In addition, the province is also expanding the list of communities that may receive housing targets. Twelve communities with high demand, low vacancy rates and limited housing availability are being added to the list. Three of these communities are already included in the fourth set of priority communities receiving targets.
The new communities joining the list are Coldstream, Comox, Courtenay, Cumberland, Lake Country, Parksville, Peachland, Penticton, Qualicum Beach, Salmon Arm, Summerland and Vernon.
In 2023, B.C. implemented the Housing Supply Act, which enabled government to establish housing targets for communities based on areas of greatest need and highest projected growth. Achieving the targets within five years will help communities address projected population growth and local housing demands.
“Building on the progress of the first 10 communities announced in 2024, which reported more than 8,300 homes built in their first year of targets, six-month progress reports from the second and third sets of priority communities show more than 7,800 net-new homes have been built,” the release continues. “Many communities, including Central Saanich, Esquimalt, New Westminster and Kelowna, are trending toward exceeding their first-year housing targets.”
Other communities are on track to meet their first-year targets with projects in the works.
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