housing

Kitimat receives $81k from development approval program

July 3, 2024 by Sabrina Spencer

The District of Kitimat has received an $81,000 grant from the local government’s Development Approval Program June 17.

This funding was given to 38 communities including the District of Kitimat. Mayor Phil Gurmuth spoke with CFNR and talked about how the grant’s potential impact on Kitimat’s administrative efficiency and housing development.

“We’re looking to streamline the procedure to make things quicker for those applying,” says Mayor Gurmuth.

The grant will be used to review bylaws, delegate minor tasks to staff, and improve the permitting process through technology.

Mayor Gurmuth says the district is open to seeking additional funding to sustain the improvements made through the grant. The significance of the funding lies in supporting the development of more housing options in Kitimat and making the community more livable for everyone.

Waterloo approves affordable housing tax exemption, extending regional program

June 26, 2024 by Dan Kellar

On June 24th, Waterloo council voted unanimously to approve the city’s Affordable Housing Property Tax Exemption Program, extending a regional program which was approved earlier this year. After the vote, Waterloo Mayor Doroty McCabe said the program “will make a real difference in our community”.

The program exempts owners of affordable housing units from paying property taxes on the properties, provided that at least 30% of the units in a building are affordable, and that the affordable rents must be provided for a term of 60 years, or the remaining useful life of the building.

This show features clips from the June 24th council meeting, primarily of the single delegate, Sean Campbell the executive director of Union Co-op, an organisation which operates two buildings in Kitchener with affordable units. Campbell supports the new by-law, noting it would make it easier to bring more buildings into community ownership and provide even more “permanent affordability”.

A gravel path leads into a next to a meadowed area leads into a forest of medium height trees. The season is late spring and the trees are leafed out in full.

Neighbours oppose cutting endangered butternut trees for development

June 25, 2024 by Brenda Little

The Prince Edward County Planning and Development Committee met last week hearing proposals for rezoning of several development plans for the region but the hot topic was Fawcett Avenue on the east side of Picton which contains a stand of endangered trees.

The council chamber was filled to capacity with neighbours from Fawcettville, as it is locally known, with 17 people presenting deputations against the proposed 85 mixed style homes to be built at the end of their street.

Fawcettville is a small enclave of older, mostly bungalow style homes, there are no sidewalks and only one road leading into the neighbourhood from Highway 49 ending at a forest of 60 endangered butternut trees.

The neighbours voiced many concerns including clear cutting the forest, loss of natural habitat, loss of green space and heavy duty construction equipment traffic on the small road endangering pedestrians.

Council unanimously denied the application, sending Hilden Homes back to staff with several recommendations for another proposal.

An audience watches a woman speak into a microphone in front of a projected slide.

Migration not to blame for the housing crisis, think tanks say

June 21, 2024 by Jules Bugiel

The Institut de recherche et d’informations socioéconomiques (IRIS) and the Observatoire des inégalités raciales (OIRQ) have teamed up to release a new publication pushing back on the narratives that migrants are to blame for Quebec’s housing crisis.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault recently attributed the province’s hot rental market to the rise of temporary migration. But the OIRQ’s Geneviève Vande Wiele Nobert, author of the June 11 publication, says that skyrocketing rents in low-migration regions show there’s more to the story.

With files from Athina Khalid.

The city of Waterloo sign. A relic from the 1960s, the word City is italiced and sits on top of the word of' and the two sit together in a stylized box that sits atop a long vertical narrow sign that reads Waterloo vertically.

Waterloo City Council approves community-driven changes for affordable housing project

June 3, 2024 by M.P. Holmes

After gathering community input, the City of Waterloo has modified its plan to develop vacant city land near Rim Park.

Michelle Lee, an Executive Officer at the City of Waterloo, highlighted how the idea of increasing building heights from 6 storeys to 12. The push for more commercial units came from the community.

The project aims to provide over 700 homes in a sustainable, affordable neighbourhood with commercial opportunities. The city has submitted the modified plan and now waits for approval for the Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO). An MZO authorizes the Minister of Municipal Affairs to fast track zoning changes on specific pieces of land.

Financial structure and long-term affordability remain critical questions still to be resolved. Staff favour land lease models, where land remains in community ownership but is leased to developers, while Sean Campbell, the Executive Director of Union Sustainable Development Cooperative, cautioned against prioritizing land leases over other potential models, highlighting that the core objective is perpetual affordability and public benefit.

A portrait of Jag Gill standing in front of a white wall, smiling. He is a younger man and has short black hair, and a short dark beard wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a dark blue tie with grey and red stripes. He is wearing a button on his jacket. Photo provided by Mission City Council staff.

New housing regulations in B.C. received little input from the City of Mission, says councillor

May 31, 2024 by Surjit Atwal

New laws, like Bill 47, would allow developers to build up to 6-10-story buildings in downtown Mission without any residential parking, and a councillor is speaking out.

In an interview with CIVL Radio, Mission Coun. Jag Gill says the new housing regulations such as Bill 47 are being brought into effect by the Government of British Columbia and will frustrate an already challenged situation.

Gill says even though these laws are provincial, municipal governments have to answer to the public daily about these laws, and it becomes very difficult to do so because municipal governments had no input in the development of these laws.

A conceptual design of the exterior for the proposed affordable housing complex- contributed photo Gitmaxmak'ay Nisga'a Society

Gitmaxmak’ay Nisga’a Society to purchase former hotel site for affordable housing complex

May 29, 2024 by Sabrina Spencer

The former Inlander Hotel site on 2nd Avenue in Prince Rupert is set to undergo a transformation into a 40-unit affordable housing complex.

The Gitmaxmak’ay Nisga’a Society announced on Facebook on May 29 that they have acquired land for a housing project and adhering to a Rent-Geared-to-Income model. The model sets a qualifying income threshold, and capping rent at 30 per cent of gross income, aiming to offer affordable housing ranging from $585 for a studio to just over $1,000 for a three-bedroom unit.

Prince Rupert city council members expressed support for the project, acknowledging the need for housing and the positive impact on downtown revitalization. Council has given approval to the first three readings of the bylaw amendment. Final adoption is anticipated to be completed by the end of June.

CFNR spoke with Blair Mirau the CEO of the GNS, who says the project aims to prioritize Gitmaxmak’ay members, Indigenous individuals, and the wider community for housing.

A blue tarp lays on the ground beside a shopping cart filled with a few plastic bags of belongings next to the brown brick wall of a building.

The 5 and 2 Ministries leader thinks Abbotsford homeless population larger than city count

May 24, 2024 by Surjit Atwal

The leader of an organization that works with the unhoused in Abbotsford believes the actual number of homeless people living on the streets of Abbotsford is far greater than the city’s official count.

In an interview with CIVL Radio, Executive Director of The 5 and 2 Ministries Ward Draper said he believes the figure to be greater than 800 people, rather than the approximately 500 people that the city has counted.

Draper said it’s challenging to get an accurate count in Abbotsford because it is the third largest city in British Columbia, and people could be sleeping anywhere. He attributes the rise in homelessness to the cost of living and the lack of shelter in this city.

The province, the federal government, and the community must work together to improve the situation, Draper said.

A woman stands at a white podium in front of a row of wooden desks. There is a row of flags and a black curtain behind her.

Nova Scotia building new public housing in Liverpool

May 24, 2024 by Rick Conrad

Liverpool is getting new public housing in the next 12 months, the Nova Scotia government announced Wednesday.

The building will be modular housing, divided into eight separate residences.

John Lohr, Nova Scotia’s minister of municipal affairs and housing, said in a news release Wednesday that it’s part of 26 new modular housing units being built in the next 12 months in Shelburne, Digby, Wedgeport and Liverpool.

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman said in an interview Wednesday that she’s happy to see the province is building more public housing in Liverpool.

“I think it’s excellent. It is desperately needed throughout the entire province, so, pleased to see that the province is now looking at (the) western (end of the province).”

Norman said provincial officials told her on Tuesday that 77 people are currently waiting for public housing in the Liverpool area.

Three old fashioned hotels, one with 7 stories, another with 8 stories flank a smaller building of three stories.

BC Government steps in to protect Single Room Occupancy inventory

May 21, 2024 by Bernadine Fox

On May 15th, the Province put into effect amendments to Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act (MEVA) that will allow the city to regulate SRO (Single Residency Occupancy) through vacancy control and restrict rent increases vacancies protecting Vancouver’s low-income rental inventory.

This has been a tremendous victory for those fighting to protect DTES low-income housing including those at DTES SRO Collaborative. The victory has been hard won — in December 2021, Vancouver passed bylaws that enacted vacancy control for SRO units in the Downtown Eastside. In 2022, those bylaws were struck down and then appealed. In February of this year, the city lost that appeal whereupon the Ministry of Housing stepped in to ensure vacancy control.

Ezra Bloom, from the Collaborative, talks with CFRO News about their May 15 trip to Victoria to support the enacting of this new bylaw (MEVA) and the impact it will have in the DTES.

Waterloo mayor McCabe delivers “State of the City” address

May 10, 2024 by Dan Kellar

Waterloo’s annual State of the City address was delivered on May 2nd by mayor Dorothy McCabe at Wilfrid Laurier University, and was full of celebration of the current work the city is doing, and enthusiasm for the future.

The mayor focused significantly on the work the city is doing on housing, climate action, community building, infrastructure, service delivery, and affordability and she noted the interconnectedness of these topics throughout her speech.

McCabe also celebrated the youth of the city and the students of the region’s high schools, post-secondary institutions throughout the speech, saying of the “council for the day” students “Waterloo’s future looks very very bright”.

The State of the City was organized by the Rotary Club of Waterloo and raised over $15,000 for Supportive Housing of Waterloo, an organization which helps people who have experienced long periods homelessness with housing and other support services.

Ravi Kahlon wearing a dark grey suit stands in front of a podium

New short-term rental rules take effect across the B.C.

May 3, 2024 by Lauryn Mackenzie

New changes to B.C.’s short-term rental rules have come into effect this week.

British Columbians will legally only be able to rent out their primary residence. In addition to their primary residence, they will also be able to either rent their secondary suite or an accessory dwelling unit as a short-term rental on the same property.

As well, renters are now required to display valid local government business license numbers, where business licenses are required.

The new act also gives local governments stronger tools to enforce short-term bylaws; this includes raising the prices of fines for violating the city’s short-term rental bylaw.

CHLY’s Joe Pugh speaks with the City of Nanaimo Mayor, Leonard Krog on short-term rental business licenses in the city and the enforcement around them. As well he speaks with B.C. Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon about the enforcement of unlicensed rentals.