Opinion: Infrastructure costs driving up housing costs in B.C. | Daily Hive

Georgia Viaduct in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

For years, the Government of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver have been locked in a blame game over who should fund critical infrastructure, affordable housing, and regional services.

Rather than solving these issues, both levels of government have made housing development a scapegoat, piling costs onto new projects and forcing renters and homeowners to bear the financial burden of government mismanagement.

Instead of funding vital infrastructure through responsible budgeting, the Province and the City have found a convenient target — developers.

You might also like:

Every time a major infrastructure project faces funding shortfalls, the government turns to new housing projects as a revenue tool, tacking on additional costs that drive up home prices and rents. This means higher costs for everyday citizens.

Housing costs keep rising while the Province and City fight on infrastructure

One of the current examples of this mismanagement is the much-delayed demolition of the Dunsmuir and Georgia viaducts in Northeast False Creek.

The viaducts’ removal, which has been deemed necessary by the City due to the inability to withstand a seismically significant event, was initially estimated at $90 million in 2011. But the cost has now ballooned to nearly $450 million even in 2018 — a 500% increase.

How much has this cost further increased in the last seven years since 2018?

Dunsmuir and Georgia viaducts, and the SkyTrain Expo Line elevated guideway. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Despite the rising removal costs, neither the Province nor the City wants to foot the bill. Instead, they continue to stall the project while pointing fingers at each other, leaving thousands of potential new homes and rental units in limbo.

The burden of viaduct removal costs, if passed onto developers, would significantly inflate per-unit prices. With a projected 5,000 homes planned for Northeast False Creek, using 2018 figures, this equates to an average increase of $90,000 per home. In 2025, with costs expected to rise even further, how much more will each homebuyer be forced to pay due to government inaction?

Government cost overruns prove housing is just a revenue stream

The viaducts are not the only case of financial mismanagement.

Under Metro Vancouver Regional District, the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant project skyrocketed from $700 million to over $3.86 billion, more than a fivefold increase. Households across Metro Vancouver are now paying for these cost overruns through hikes to their annual sewerage fees.

How do these types of cost overruns continue to happen, and also always seem to be swept under the rug? Where is the government accountability for mismanaging our tax dollars?

The Site C hydroelectric dam, under the provincial government, has also spiralled out of control. It was originally budgeted at $8.8 billion but now exceeds $16 billion.

The trend is clear: rather than managing public projects responsibly, the government shifts financial burdens onto new housing developments, forcing renters and homebuyers to cover the tab.

If either level of government were serious about affordability, they wouldn’t be using housing as a shadow tax system to cover their fiscal mismanagement. Homebuyers and renters should not be subsidizing a government that refuses to control costs or take responsibility for its infrastructure needs.

Northeast False Creek has been caught in bureaucratic limbo for over 15 years.

This large parcel of vacant waterfront land owned by two different entities was originally used for the logistical, staging, and security needs for B.C. Place Stadium and Rogers Arena during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

And the site is now, once again, being earmarked for similar critical uses for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. This follows an almost 10-year stalling of the site’s development for the City’s viaducts study.

Meanwhile, developers, including Concord Pacific, stand ready to build thousands of new homes but are held hostage by political infighting.

Northeast False Creek. (Google Maps)

Ravi Khalon, the B.C. Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, complains about the slow progress on redeveloping Northeast False Creek into housing yet refuses to provide funding for the viaduct removal — a critical piece of infrastructure standing in the way of new development. The contradiction couldn’t be clearer: the Province demands faster housing construction but will not fund the infrastructure required to make it possible.

Meanwhile, they make building housing more expensive by passing on the infrastructure costs to housing.

The Province isn’t just blaming developers; it’s also coming after municipal governments.

Recently, Kahlon targeted Oak Bay and West Vancouver, accusing them of failing to meet housing targets. Yet both municipalities argue that they have already met or exceeded provincial policies and that broader market conditions, like interest rates and construction costs, are the real bottlenecks.

Rather than offering actual solutions, the Province is now appointing special housing advisors to oversee these municipalities, an added layer of bureaucracy that does nothing to address affordability. Little actual help is being provided, and cities that have already aligned with provincial policies are being unfairly targeted.

When developers are forced to fund infrastructure, the costs are passed to homeowners and renters

Developers are not just expected to build homes; they are also forced to finance public infrastructure projects that should be covered by general government revenues.

These extra costs are ultimately passed down to renters and homebuyers, making housing even more expensive.

New housing projects are now expected to cover public transit, roads, social housing, and other public amenities — core services and infrastructure of governments that are supposed to be funded by general tax dollars.

This cost-shifting strategy delays new construction, reduces affordability, and slows down the delivery of much-needed homes and rental units. Once again, we as citizens need to ask ourselves: where is the government tax revenue going, and why is the burden shifted to the private sector?

Concord Pacific has proposed a newly revised Northeast False Creek concept, and indicated it is ready and eager to move forward with this last 16 acres of the original 204-acre post-Expo site in False Creek.

And ay support in delivering critical infrastructure that will enable housing supply and community growth is welcomed, but if history is any indication, many are not holding their breath for any movement.

It’s time to stop using developers, renters, and homeowners as a financial escape route. Instead of demanding more housing while blocking essential infrastructure, governments must take responsibility for their spending and stop shifting the cost onto those trying to build — or in need of — homes.

Renters and homeowners should not be footing the bill for government inefficiency. Housing is a necessity, not a revenue stream for mismanaged public budgets. If governments are serious about affordability, they need to fund infrastructure properly, stop the blame game, and remove barriers that make housing less expensive for everyone.

Rogers Arena’s main plaza underneath the Dunsmuir Viaduct. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

You might also like: