Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon has responded to Prince George City Council’s decision to request to opt-out of the Province’s Short-Term Accommodations Act.
At the February 26th regular council meeting, Prince George City Council unanimously voted in favor of opting out.
At that meeting, it was reported that the opt-out option is only available for municipalities with vacancy rates of three per cent or greater for two consecutive years.
However, according to data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the City of Prince George had a vacancy rate of 2.8 per cent in 2023, meaning the City of Prince George is not eligible to opt-out.
Council claimed the data was “statistically unreliable”, stating the CMHC has no data in the “row” portion for three-or-more bedroom units in Prince George.
Council also brought up the issue of Prince George being a hub city, with people coming to the Northern Capital for a variety of reasons, such as hospice or other medical treatments.
Housing Minister Ravi Kalhon responded to Mayor Simon Yu with a letter which appears on Monday’s Council agenda under the correspondence section.
“The total overall vacancy rate (2.8 per cent for Prince George in 2023) reported by CMHC has a data quality rating of “Very Good”, which makes the vacancy rate statistically reliable,” wrote Minister Kahlon in his letter to Mayor Yu.
“The inclusion of the 3 bedrooms + row home units in the total vacancy rate does not make the total vacancy rate statistically unreliable; to the contrary, it makes the rate more reliable as the sample size is larger.”
“It is important that we prioritize the goal of housing to the long-term housing market in communities where there are rental housing shortages,” Kahlon continued.
“Short-term rentals can still occur in people’s principal residences, including up to one suite or accessory dwelling unit, and we may well see growth in this type of accommodation.”
Other items on Monday’s agenda include building permit stats for February and delegations from the BC SPCA and Share Hope.
The full agenda can be found here.