Municipalities and housing advocates are raising alarm bells over British Columbia’s decision to close a housing fund they rely on to build affordable rental housing.
They say the closure of the Community Housing Fund means many non-profits are out hundreds of thousands of dollars, while municipalities will have a harder time meeting their provincially mandated housing targets.
The provincial government tabled a budget Tuesday that reallocates $1.4 billion from its housing strategy over the three-year plan, including funding from the Community Housing Fund.
The $3.3 billion fund was introduced in 2018 with a goal of building more than 20,000 affordable rental homes. B.C. Housing last issued a call for proposals in May.
Housing Minister Christine Boyle said Wednesday she understands the frustration of proponents who submitted applications through the Community Housing Fund.
She said many projects are being “repaced,” a word Finance Minister Brenda Bailey also used in her budget presentation.
“Repacing means that our commitment remains to the overall target that we as a government have set of 114,000 new buildings or a $19 billion investment, but that will likely be stretched out over a few years longer than originally committed,” said Boyle.
She said the provincial housing targets for municipalities remain in place.
“We remain in conversation with local governments about how we get there,” said Boyle.
Cori Ramsay, a Prince George city councillor and president of the Union of B.C. Municipalities, said many projects in the application queue for funding won’t be able to go ahead without money from the Community Housing Fund.
“To put together an application in and of itself, when you’re constantly juggling capacity, is difficult. And so to find out that the stream is continuing longer, I think is going to be really frustrating,” said Ramsay.
The province sets annual housing targets for areas with the greatest need and highest population growth. Ramsay said municipalities will now have a harder time reaching those goals.
“I think if the province is giving itself flexibility in meeting its goals, stretching its housing strategy over a longer period of time, then I think local governments expect similar flexibility,” said Ramsay.
The Squamish Community Housing Society is among the organizations that said they’re losing out on provincial funding. It said it is looking into other possible funding avenues for a 100-unit project at 39900 Government Rd. in Squamish.
“This project would have played an important role in creating pathways into housing for those in our community facing housing insecurity, or for those who are living in transitional housing and looking for affordable independent living,” Housing Squamish said in a statement.
The province announced a new housing partnership with the federal government Wednesday. B.C. will receive $170 million in capital funding from the federal government through the Build Canada Homes agency. The province will commit as much as $200 million in capital funding, along with up to $27 million per year in operating subsidies for at least 10 years.
The province said the funding is expected to advance more than 900 supportive and transitional homes, with priority given to projects that can start construction in the next 12 months.
Jill Atkey, CEO of the BC Non-Profit Housing Association, said the investment represents a “glimmer of hope,” but expressed concern it could mean fewer dollars going directly to the non-profit housing sector.
Atkey estimates the loss of the Community Housing Fund could affect about 100 project proposals, and said the move caught non-profits off guard.
“We knew there would be a slowdown. What we weren’t anticipating was the cancellation of an existing call,” said Atkey.
She said a significant amount of money and effort can go into ensuring a proposal is “shovel-ready,” with costs ranging from about $100,000 to $500,000. Atkey said that means millions of dollars were already spent by the non-profit housing sector on project proposals that now won’t move forward.
She said it represents a significant loss of capacity for the sector, as some non-profits won’t have the resources to pursue additional funding.
“It will have non-profits thinking very, very hard about future submissions and who their most reliable and likely partners are,” said Atkey.
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