By Cheryl Jahn

Housing a big subject at UBCM

Oct 3, 2023 | 2:46 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Housing was a hot topic at this year’s Union of BC Municipalities. And just last week, ten communities learned of their housing allocations for the next five years. For example, Abbotsford will have to build over 7,000 units, Kamloops will be required to build 4,200 units and Victoria has been tasked with building 4,900 units. Vancouver will need to build a whopping 29,000 units in five years.

These numbers were set out based on the total number of units needed to address a housing shortage, and it is the province suggesting these communities are more inclined to say no to development.

“I think the province is really saying, okay, if your staff is telling you that this is okay and it fits the form and character of the neighborhood and this type of zoning already exists and we need to get more comfortable with density, why are you saying no, that’s not within the land use parameters that we’re supposed to be making those decisions around when it comes to housing.”

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Densification is the goal for our municipality to cover all things like water, sewer, and roads. “I just hope in the next years that the economic situation will more clear stabilize and OCP will be done,” says Mayor Simon Yu. “So we will know where we can build this 1000 units per year in a hurry and perhaps even more as industry as we know, might be moving in in the next few years.”

The city recently conducted its own internal housing needs survey and found that the city has a core need to build more than 8,000 units in the next decade. “We’re having record-breaking years and still not hitting permits. We really, I think, have to have perhaps a philosophical change and in Prince George in particular.”

But between material costs, inflation, and interest rates, the development permit numbers are showing steady declines going from $252 million year to date last year to $90 million from January to August of this year, making it even harder to meet expectations.

“We in Canada, we rely on the developers to build houses, but housing is increasingly becoming a national and a provincial issue. So I will see in the days a year ahead, perhaps more public housing to be done.”