Section B: Housing

Core Business Areas

While the core business for the Housing Department is housing and homelessness, for practical purposes the department has divided the business into three functional units.

1. Housing Policy

The department provides provincial housing policy advice to government on ways to address housing need along the housing continuum from homelessness to homeownership. The role of housing policy is to identify the strategic points along the housing continuum where government support can assist British Columbians to meet their housing requirements. Working closely with BC Housing, special attention is paid to the area of most acute need found among low income British Columbians who have special housing and support needs.

2. Building and Safety Policy

The department provides policy advice on British Columbia's building regulatory system to advance building safety in the province and to manage existing and emerging technical and building policy issues. As the administrators of the BC Building and Fire Codes, the department focuses on the development, maintenance and application of these regulations, and acts as the secretariat to the BC Building Code Appeal Board.

Increased public safety and reduction in loss of life, injury and property damage are of paramount importance to government. The department also provides policy and regulatory advice in the areas of electrical products and systems, gas, elevating devices, boiler and pressure vessel products, works and systems, and railways. As well, the department manages the administrative agreements with delegated authorities under the Safety Standards Act.

3. Residential Tenancy Office

Approximately 36 per cent of households in BC rent their homes. The Residential Tenancy Office works to promote a positive relationship between landlords and tenants by providing both groups with information on their rights and responsibilities under the Residential Tenancy Act. The Office also assists landlords and tenants to resolve concerns by providing dispute resolution services including arbitrations. There are three offices in Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna with a total staff complement of 50 full-time equivalents.

The Housing Department has responsibility for the following legislation:

• Building Officials' Association Act
• Commercial Tenancy Act
• Community Charter (Part of) s. 9 (1) (d)
• Fire Services Act (Part of) s. 47 (2) (g) (h)
• Homeowner Protection Act
• Local Government Act (Part of) s. 692, 693
• Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act
• Ministry of Lands, Parks and Housing Act (s. 5, 8.1 and 10)
• Railway Safety Act
• Railway Act (s. 14 – 25)
• Rent Distress Act
• Residential Tenancy Act
• Safety Standards Act
• Safety Authority Act
• Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters Act