Strategic Context

Planning Context and Key Strategic Issues

The housing needs of British Columbians can be viewed as a continuum. The continuum spans low to high-income, homelessness to home ownership, dependence to self-sufficiency. Government housing assistance is strategically designed to promote movement towards self-sufficiency and homeownership.

The Foundation: Building Safety and Consumer Protection Policy, Legislation and Regulation.

The Office contributes to consumer protection and the safety and stability of our housing through the BC Building Code, the BC Fire Code, the Safety Standards Act, the Homeowner Protection Act, the Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters Act and the Residential Tenancy Act.

Most British Columbians are housed successfully in B.C.'s private housing market. According to BC Stats, approximately 36 per cent of B.C. households are renters and 64 per cent are homeowners. Even with the rising cost of renting and homeownership, approximately 85 per cent of households in B.C. are adequately housed. For the remaining 15 per cent, access to affordable, safe and adequate housing is a significant challenge.

In 2006, the Province released Housing Matters BC: A Housing Strategy for British Columbia. This document outlines a comprehensive housing strategy that builds on the government's commitment to focus housing resources for those most in need. It is an innovative, practical and achievable plan for improving the safety, stability and range of housing choices for all British Columbians.

Another key strategic issue is the need for change in the regulation of building construction. The current building safety regulatory system needs to respond effectively to the pressures of rapid technological change, a major construction boom and increased liability.

To respond to the need for change, the Office has initiated the Modernization Strategy, a multi-year review of the building safety regulatory system. The strategy is a collaborative initiative with industry and local governments, and will result in:

  • Policy and legislation that maintains or enhances safety, health and accessibility in the design, construction and occupancy of buildings; and
  • a building regulatory system that is effective and responsive to the changing needs of developers, builders, designers, building and safety trades, and other system participants.

The Modernization Strategy is being implemented through five interdependent projects:

  • Information Management and System Performance;
  • Liability and Risk;
  • Competency;
  • Consistent Code Application; and
  • Consistent Code Compliance and Enforcement Processes.

Work on the strategy's five projects will proceed during the next two years.

Through building design, we can use our land more effectively and create more liveable, sustainable communities. Increased densities can help to reduce building costs and create positive benefits for our environment. Mixed use communities offer people the opportunity to bike or walk to work. By building healthier, less costly communities, we can improve our ability to provide more affordable housing options.

Housing Trends and Responses

British Columbia's current building boom, coupled with an aging workforce, is resulting in a shortage of skilled labour in the housing and construction sectors. In combination with the increase in land value, this impacts on the cost of construction. These trends, coupled with rapidly changing technology and liability exposure concerns, are creating major pressures that ultimately affect housing affordability.

Housing in some areas of B.C. is the most expensive in the country, and the gap between what people are earning and the cost of housing continues to grow.2 Greater Vancouver continues to have the highest prices and worst affordability index in Canada, with most housing types (particularly single family detached homes) out of reach for median income earners. A family's household income needs to be over $120,000 to qualify for a conventional mortgage on a two-storey home in Vancouver.3 This is almost 2.5 times more than the current median household income of almost $55,000.
2  September 2006 RBC Financial Group’s Housing Affordability Index. A high index means it is difficult to afford a house. In the fourth quarter of 2006, the affordability index for Vancouver was approximately 69.7 for a standard two storey home, which means that home ownership costs, including mortgage payments, utilities and property taxes take up 69.7 per cent of a typical household’s pre-tax income (a median household income).
3  A conventional mortgage means that the homebuyer(s) have a down payment of at least 25 per cent of the purchase price of the home. This usually allows the buyers to obtain a lower rate of interest on the mortgage. This is different from a high ratio mortgage, which means the buyer puts less than 25 per cent of the purchase price as a down payment.

Very few new rental units are being built in the private market. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reports that in the major urban centres of British Columbia, where the majority of the population lives, only 495 purpose-built rental housing units were constructed in 2005. Most of this new housing construction does not fall into the affordable housing category.

Government has taken a number of actions to improve affordability, such as personal income tax reductions, property tax deferment and the First Time Home Buyers' Property Transfer Tax Exemption. Starting October 2006, government is providing $40 million annually toward a new Rental Assistance Program for working families. An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 households will receive direct financial assistance to help offset the high costs of rental accommodation.

Despite increased spending on transitional and supportive housing, the number of homeless has almost doubled in several urban areas. The Greater Vancouver Regional District reported that homelessness counts increased from 1,049 in 2002 to 2,112 in 2005. In Kelowna, homelessness counts increased from 160 in the spring of 2003 to 420 in the fall of 2005. Families and the "working poor" now make up a visible part of the homeless population.

Government is addressing absolute homelessness4 through the Emergency Shelter Program administered by BC Housing. In addition, transitional housing is being created to provide better opportunities for shelter users to move to more permanent, supportive housing.

The Office is also working with not-for-profit organizations to expand the province-wide homeless outreach program. Outreach workers help homeless individuals address their immediate physical and safety needs such as food, warm clothing and housing. They also work in close collaboration with emergency shelter and housing providers, to identify and provide options for longer term housing assistance including referrals to subsidized housing, private market rentals or supported living environments.

In 2006, B.C. completed a devolution agreement5 with the federal government, transferring responsibility for the administration of federal social housing to the province. The Province is now able to re-align and re-develop available social housing to achieve provincial objectives and to deliver housing programs more effectively and at a lower overall cost. This agreement presents an opportunity to harmonize programs and to reduce the administrative burden for non-profit housing societies and housing cooperatives that own and manage subsidized housing developments. It also enables the Province to deliver housing programs more effectively and at a lower cost.

Government is also working with municipalities on housing and planning tools that recognize and encourage secondary suites, increased densities and housing affordability. The Office of Housing and Construction Standards is also working together with local governments, other ministries, the private sector, and non-profit agencies to provide housing options for British Columbians with special housing needs.
4  Absolute homelessness describes individuals and families who are living in public spaces without legal claim (e.g., on the streets), a homeless shelter, a public facility or service (e.g., hospital) and cannot return to a stable residence. This definition also applies to an individual who is financially, sexually or emotionally exploited to maintain his or her shelter.
5  This devolution agreement entitled "The Canada/B.C. Social Housing Agreement" transfers administration of social housing resources from the Government of Canada.

Demographic Trends and Responses

British Columbia's Aboriginal populations are growing more quickly than other demographic groups with 73 per cent living off-reserve. Over the last decade, the government has provided funding to Aboriginal housing societies to build approximately 500 new units of safe, affordable housing. This housing need is significantly higher in comparison to non-Aboriginal people in British Columbia. For government's response to this issue, please refer to the New Relationship section of the Service Plan on page 61.

To ensure that Aboriginal peoples living off reserve have safe, adequate and affordable housing delivered in a culturally sensitive manner, the Province is transferring the management of 2,600 housing units to the Aboriginal Housing Management Association. As part of the New Relationship and the Transformative Change Accord signed with First Nations and the federal government, the Province is committed to measures that will help close the social and economic gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in British Columbia. The Office, in collaboration with the Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, the Leadership Council and other Aboriginal partners, is developing a ten-year strategy to address the significant housing needs of Aboriginal peoples in this province.

British Columbia's population continues to age. The number of senior-led households is expected to increase by over 60 per cent from 246,000 in 2001 to 397,418 by 2021.6 Demographic trends point to a growing seniors' population with fixed incomes and a need for housing supports. Seniors are predicted to make up 23.5 per cent of B.C.'s population in 2031, compared to 13.2 per cent in 2001.

For low income seniors, the province provides rental subsidies through the SAFER program7 and is committed to increasing funding for this program as the number of seniors in B.C. increases. The SAFER program provides direct cash assistance to seniors, age 60 or over, renting in the private market who have low to moderate incomes and pay more than 30 per cent of their gross income on rent.
6  Source: BC Stats, Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services.
7  Shelter Aid For Elderly Renters.

The Economy and Technological Advances

Regulatory reform is a global trend that is shaping how government interacts with the construction industry and other building and safety stakeholders. British Columbia continues to introduce objectives-based8 and risk-assessed regulatory approaches9 for safety technologies. These approaches have been shown to encourage economic growth while maintaining safety standards in the design, construction and occupancy of buildings. The 2006 BC Building Code was adopted in an objective-based code format, so that each building code provision is now directly linked to the objectives of the code. In this way, code users are provided with additional information that assists them in meeting the objectives of safety, health, and accessibility for people with disabilities, and the structural protection of buildings. Stating the rationale behind each provision also allows for greater innovation and flexibility.

The need to support economic competitiveness has prompted jurisdictions across Canada and the world to work with industry in harmonizing10 safety regulation while promoting research, development and marketing of new technologies. The Office plays an active role on key national committees including the National Public Safety Advisory Committee and Standards Council of Canada and National Research Council Committees that are working to adopt harmonized standards across Canada. Harmonized standards allow international, provincial and territorial regulators to jointly focus on a single, standard development process and to coordinate consideration and public review of proposed changes. Harmonized standards also result in a more uniform national regulatory regime, which enables designers, contractors and builders to move more freely between jurisdictions and helps to address the shortage of skilled labour.
8  An objective-based regulatory approach focuses on what needs to be achieved rather than how it is to be achieved. This provides the opportunity for stakeholders in a competitive environment to consider technological advances for achieving the safety goal.
9  A risk assessed regulatory approach involves an inspection process in which information collected from incident/accident reports and previous inspections is used to determine where inspection activities should be focused. This enables limited inspection resources to be directed to the activities that pose the highest risk.
10  In this context, harmonization means B.C. regulations on the design, construction and occupancy of buildings that are the same as regulations on the same issues in other provinces and territories. British Columbia continues to have a handful of unique regulations that are designed to support the particular social, economic or governance conditions in the Province of B.C.
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