B.C. developers and housing non-profits unite in election push to cut construction costs | Daily Hive

Burnaby residential towers under construction. (StandbildCA/Shutterstock)

Private developers and non-profit housing organizations in British Columbia have joined forces ahead of the provincial general election, warning that rising costs are preventing them from building homes across a wide range of price points.

In a highly rare joint appeal yesterday, the Urban Development Institute (UDI), B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association, Aboriginal Housing Management Association, and Co-operative Housing Federation of B.C. urged every provincial party to commit to four measures aimed at getting housing projects moving and preserving existing affordable rentals.

As “unlikely allies,” their shared concern is that the total cost of building housing has climbed beyond what many market buyers can afford and what government subsidies can cover for lower-income renters.

According to these four organizations, the uncertainty about funding and government requirements is making it even harder to proceed.

“When market developers and non-profit housing providers are asking for the same thing, it should tell every party how serious the cost of delivery crisis is,” said Mike Drummond, the CEO of UDI.

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While their members serve very different housing needs, the organizations note that they face many of the same expenses, including high land acquisition costs, construction costs, borrowing costs, and government-imposed development levies and fees, as well as financial costs associated with permitting delays.

A central request is to restore previously planned funding for non-profit housing, co-operative housing, and Indigenous housing.

According to these organizations, the 2026 provincial budget’s withdrawal of $1.4 billion in funding from planned affordable housing investments has delayed more than 5,000 affordable rental homes, with no replacement funding schedule. Some projects already had sites identified and money spent on designs and approvals.

The BC NDP-led provincial government’s 2026 budget describes the change as a reallocation of nearly $1.4 billion over its three-year fiscal plan. More than $900 million of that amount is being redirected to housing programs and services, including support for non-profit operators, assisted living, and below-market homes through a partnership with the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.

Premier David Eby’s government made this sharp policy shift earlier this year amid a forecast for substantial projected annual budget deficits for years to come and mounting provincial debt, with years of heightened capital spending being a major driver. To help narrow the deficit and slow debt growth, including the provincial government’s annual interest payments on debt, the BC NDP decided to delay some planned capital spending on new affordable housing, hospitals, and infrastructure.

However, as a result of this pivot, the organizations assert that non-profits, co-operatives, and their private development partners have lost $45 million in work undertaken before construction, while additional projects have been shelved.

“The projects are ready, but the land sits empty. The people waiting for affordable housing cannot wait another budget cycle. The next government has an opportunity to restore the investment and get these homes built,” said Jill Atkey, the CEO of the BC Non-Profit Housing Association.

Another request is for the next provincial government to secure federal GST relief on new homes for all buyers, extending beyond first-time purchasers.

Their push for broader GST relief follows a federal-provincial agreement announced for Ontario in March 2026, which extended sales tax rebates to eligible buyers of new homes beyond first-time purchasers. The temporary measure provides full relief from Ontario’s 13 per cent HST on homes priced up to $1 million, with rebates also available for higher-priced homes. It applies to eligible purchase agreements signed between April 2026 and March 2027.

However, the B.C. provincial government pursued a different partnership approach with Prime Minister Mark Carney. As previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized, in June 2026, Premier Eby said the federal government had offered approximately $300 million for housing measures, with Ontario-style GST relief initially on the table. Eby’s administration instead proposed using roughly half of that federal funding, matched by provincial money, to help finance the purchase of unsold strata market ownership condominium homes for an affordable rent-to-own program that would not require a down payment.

The federal-provincial condominium partnership announced that month envisioned converting more than 2,200 vacant newly-built condominium units into affordable homes. However, months later, Premier Eby appears to have backed away from that controversial strategy, with the BC NDP’s provincial election platform now calling for a new additional tax on developers and their unsold newly-built condominium homes.

The June 2026 announcement by Eby and Carney was part of a broader package of housing-related measures, including a commitment to lower development charges. At the time, the federal and B.C. governments also announced up to $3.2 billion in combined funding over 10 years for infrastructure supporting new housing, alongside reductions of up to 50 per cent in development fees for multi-unit housing in priority areas.

The four organizations are now urging the federal and B.C. governments to finalize their June 2026 agreement so developers can factor the savings from lower development fees into the pro forma for their housing projects.

Development cost charges are fees collected to help fund the required infrastructure and utilities serving growth. According to the organizations, the agreement’s details remained unresolved when the snap provincial general election was called, leaving developers unable to account for potential savings and municipalities unable to implement the changes.

In addition to new meaningful measures to help encourage construction, the organizations also want governments to protect the affordability of rental homes that already exist.

They are calling for B.C’s remaining Rental Protection Fund funding to be invested together with the Canada Rental Protection Fund, arguing that combining the resources would help preserve more affordable rentals and provide greater stability for tenants.

The provincial general election’s main voting day is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, with the six-day advance voting period stating on Friday, Oct. 16 and ending on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Voters will choose an MLA for their riding, which will help determine which provincial party forms government.

Separately, the main voting day for municipal elections — to vote for a mayor, city councillors, School Board trustees, and other municipal representatives — across B.C. is Saturday, Oct. 17.

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