2003/04 Annual Service Plan Report -- Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services

Performance Reporting

Core Business Area: Housing and Building

Goal: Housing needs and safe building standards are met

The ministry provides policy and legislative analysis and advice to government to assist in making decisions about how best to meet housing needs and address building code requirements. Social housing needs are addressed primarily through the British Columbia Housing Management Corporation (BC Housing, a Crown agency for which the ministry is responsible), while the ministry itself is responsible for developing the BC Building Code. A key component of the ministry's strategy to ensure a modern, efficient building regulatory regime has been to harmonize the building code with standards developed on a consensus basis nationally.

To address market housing issues, the ministry works in cooperation with local governments which are responsible for zoning and construction bylaws, and with the federal government to effect tax laws and monetary policy, which are the primary levers for influencing market housing.

Safe and affordable housing is essential to the ministry's vision for healthy communities and its mission to improve the lives of British Columbians. The housing industry is strong in British Columbia but affordability continues to be an issue. In the rental market, supply has lagged far behind demand in recent years and rising rental rates have led to an increasing need for housing options for low-income households. Consumer protection also remains a pressing issue for government and the ministry worked to address both issues in 2003/04.

Objectives and Strategies

Objective 1: The housing market thrives.

Key Strategies Undertaken:

As a component of implementing the new provincial housing policy, a Market Housing Affordability Strategy to stimulate options in the housing industry was developed.
Support was provided to the Homeowner Protection Office Board of Directors. The board is reviewing the fundamentals of the Homeowner Protection Act and regulations, and will present its findings and recommendations to the Minister in 2004.
Tools and resources were provided to local governments to ensure their planning efforts meet their social and market housing objectives.

Performance Measures

2003/04

Target

Actual

Variance

Output: Provincial Housing Policy implementation plan.

Complete implementation plan.

Market Housing Affordability Strategy complete. Social Housing Strategy pending approval.

Partially completed.

Outcome: Local governments are better prepared to respond to local housing needs.

Measure: Response to local government survey:

• Percentage of local governments using the ministry's recent housing policy planning tools or guides.

30%

40%

+33% (Reached 133% of target)

Explanation of Variance:

Further analytical work to fully develop strategies for the Provincial Housing Policy Implementation Plan was required.

The number of local governments using housing policy planning tools or guides was higher than anticipated. The survey is done every three years and in 2000 showed 17 per cent use.

In 2003/04, Housing Policy focused on developing tools to stimulate the development of more affordable housing in British Columbia through the new Provincial Housing Policy. A survey was conducted to assess the number of local governments using the ministry's tools or guides to plan for and address their housing needs. Local government planners' use of ministry tools and guides will enhance their likelihood of developing affordable housing. The increase to 40 per cent using the tools represents a significant improvement over the baseline.

Objective 2: The most vulnerable British Columbians are housed.

Key Strategies Undertaken:

A Social Housing Strategy was developed to address the needs of the most vulnerable as part of the implementation of the new Provincial Housing Policy.
BC Housing added subsidized housing units for low-income renters.

Performance Measures

2003/04

Target

Actual

Variance

Outcome: Housing is available for the most vulnerable.

Measures:

Number of units of subsidized housing.¹

1,114 new

1,230³ new

+116

Number of rent supplements provided.²

Target is set for 2004/05


¹	The administration of existing and construction of new units is the direct responsibility of BC Housing to which the ministry transferred $139 million in 2003/04, and will transfer $142 million in 2004/05 and $142 million in 2005/2006. Housing and subsidies are funded under partnerships with other ministries, the federal government and other sources (e.g., Ministry of Health Services, local governments) and delivered through partnerships with the private sector. "Subsidized" includes units funded by the province through established agreements with the housing provider (non-profit, co-op, and private sector) and that do not involve direct subsidies to tenants.
²	Includes Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER), Supported Independent Living (SIL) and other assistance.
³	251 rent supplement units, 388 new construction and 591 levered units through a mix of multi-stakeholder partnerships and initiatives.

Explanation of Variance:

BC Housing was able to leverage additional opportunities to build social housing through multi-stakeholder partnerships.

Objective 3: British Columbia has a modern building regulatory system for safe, healthy and accessible buildings.

Key Strategies Undertaken:

The ministry participated in the development of new national objective-based building and plumbing codes.
Frameworks for the building regulatory system in BC and other jurisdictions were reviewed to develop options to modernize the current system.
Components for code interpretation services for all building code users were identified.

Performance Measure

2003/04

Target

Actual

Variance

Output: Number of building code proposals for change received from users (national and BC) and reviewed for policy and technical concerns by the branch.

1,100

1,400

+300

Outcome: Benefits of an objective-based code are realized by users (e.g., less restrictive, allows innovation, easier to use).

Measure: Stakeholder response to survey.

2007/08: Majority surveyed agree benefits were achieved

No target set for 2003/04¹


¹	The survey to determine the extent to which this outcome has been achieved must be conducted at least two years after stakeholders have had a chance to use the new objective-based code which is targeted to be adopted in 2004/05.

Explanation of Variance:

The target for the number of proposals that would be received and reviewed was a best estimate.

Building Policy participated in 2003/04 in federal, provincial and territorial consultations on the National Building Code of Canada to ensure BC's perspective was integrated into the review. It also led the provincial-territorial joint working group with the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes, tasked with redrafting the preface to the National Code.

Building Policy provided to users the 1,400 proposals for change to the technical provisions of the national and provincial building, plumbing and fire codes. The 2,000 responses to the proposed changes were then reviewed and forwarded to Canada. BC's responses from building and fire code users accounted for 40 per cent of all responses in Canada.