Premier David Eby announced Tuesday (March. 19) close to 2,000 new affordable homes for renters in Metro Vancouver.
“Everyone deserves a decent home they can actually afford,” Eby said. “That’s why we’re taking unprecedented actions to rapidly build more affordable housing throughout the province, including through the Community Housing Fund. This latest round of funding will bring much-needed homes to every region of our province – from our fastest-growing cities to rural and remote areas – helping everyone find a decent home in the community they love.”
The province will fund 17 proposed housing projects in Metro Vancouver in partnership with local non-profit housing providers, which will provide 1,954 affordable rental homes. An additional 23 housing projects throughout the rest of B.C. will also be funded.
“These are new homes for families and seniors, new homes for former youth in care and women fleeing violence,” Eby said. “Everything from townhomes smaller development to huge multi-unit developments.”
The announcement was made Tuesday at a press conference in Surrey at the Sohkeyah development (7567 140 St), the site of a new housing project that is expected to open in late spring 2024. This project previously received community housing funding for the second phase.
Kekinow Native Housing Society will operate the site that will be home to more than 100 Indigenous people.
READ MORE: Construction begins on 2nd phase of Indigenous housing development in Surrey
READ MORE: Indigenous housing project breaks ground in Surrey
78 per cent of British Columbians polled in a recent Angus Reid survey feel the current provincial government is doing a “poor job” on housing affordability.
“The experience of British Columbians is that it sucks to be looking for housing right now and so the pieces that we’re putting in place…isn’t something that shows up overnight,” Eby said.
“There is no one solution to the housing crisis,” Eby said. “We have to deal with this from so many different angles.”
“Our goal under the Community Housing Fund, which is a fund that’s really dedicated for people who are living on those fixed incomes, people who are at risk of homelessness, is to be able to get into housing, Eby added.
Philip Gladue, a renter in Surrey, said housing is our foundation and how we move forward “as people of this province.”
The struggle for housing is not limited to one group. “Even the pensioners are having trouble today struggling make it happen but if we continue doing the work we’re doing now, we can make it, we could be happy in a safe place for us to raise our children or grandchildren and so forth,” Gladue said.
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said these homes are a part of the province’s plan to deliver affordable housing faster.
“These new homes mean that more people in B.C. will benefit from affordable homes in the communities they love, where they can grow their families and age in place,” Kahlon said.
The ministry noted that Tuesday’s announcement was part of the community housing fund’s $3.2 billion plan to build more than 20,000 affordable rental homes by 2032. 12,500 of those homes are already open or currently being built.
