Trudeau announces $2 billion in financing for BC Builds housing program

Trudeau announces $2 billion in federal financing for BC Builds housing program

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with BC Premier David Eby and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim during the housing press conference on February 20, 2024. (CPAC)

The Government of British Columbia’s newly announced BC Builds program of building more affordable housing for middle-income households is getting the federal nod with financial backing.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced today that the federal government will provide $2 billion in low-cost financing to catalyze more new homes under the program.

This leverages the nearly $3 billion set aside by the provincial government, including $2 billion in low-cost repayable financing and $950 million in direct non-repayable funding.

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In total, from the combination of both provincial and federal financial support, BC Builds is now backed by nearly $5 billion in low-cost repayable financing and direct non-repayable funding.

“BC was actually the canary in the coal mine for the problems we’re seeing across the country around housing affordability. Home prices here started going up decades ago, and people around the country started to notice,” Trudeau said this morning during a press conference in Vancouver.

BC Builds will build new affordable rental housing for middle-income households by working with municipal governments, community and non-profit-owned land, and under-used land to speed up projects.

Originally, with only provincial financial support, BC Builds, as recently as last week, was projected to help catalyze and speed up 4,000 secured purpose-built rental homes across 20 initial sites across the province. With the new federal financial support, this figure has increased to 8,000 to 10,000 new rental homes over the next five years.

Under BC Builds, the projects will move from concept to construction within only 12 to 18 months instead of the existing average timeline of three to five years.

“All levels of government need to work together to solve the housing crisis,” said Premier David Eby. “With the federal government’s contribution and partnership toward BC Builds, we can help build more homes people can actually afford. That’s good news for our economy and for our future, but most importantly it’s good news for British Columbians looking for a decent place to live.”

Ravi Kahlon, the BC Minister of Housing, added, “Teachers, nurses, construction workers and other middle-income people need more housing options in BC, and with several BC Builds sites identified and dozens of interested partners, we are well on our way to getting the additional housing they need built.”

BC Builds is described as an added layer of affordable housing — picking up where existing BC Housing programs leave off. This new middle-income housing program will create affordable homes for households with incomes from $84,780 to $131,950 for a studio or one-bedroom unit or $134,410 to $191,910 for a two-bedroom home or larger.

Currently, the existing BC Housing programs support middle incomes to a ceiling of $84,780 for a studio/one-bedroom unit and $134,140 for a unit with two or more bedrooms.

Affordability standards through BC Builds are defined as at least 20% of homes with rents that are at least 20% below market rate for projects in partnership with non-profits and First Nations. Moreover, all BC Builds projects will have a target of middle-income households spending no more than about 30% of their income on rent. Rent for BC Builds will not be higher than the project’s local area market rents.

As part of today’s announcement, the provincial government also revealed that the new seven-storey co-operative housing project planned for the downtown Vancouver site at 560 Davie Street and 1210 Seymour Street — a City-owned property at the southeast corner of the intersection of Davie and Seymour streets, adjacent to Emery Barnes Park — will be amongst BC Builds’ first projects. Providing 112 new co-operative homes, this project, previously envisioned as social housing, will begin construction in Summer 2024.

Artistic rendering of 1210 Seymour Street, Vancouver. (ZGF Architects/New Commons Development/Community Land Trust/Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency)

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