Province of British Columbia to provide funding for local governments towards housing legislation changes

The Province of British Columbia is  set to deliver just over 208,000 dollars to the City of Prince Rupert the money destined to assist the local government as it works its way through recent housing legislation changes put forward by the BC Government.

The funding program which was announced on Wednesday,  will see the money released  as of today, part of a 51 million dollar grant program for all municipalities and Regional Districts, a total of 188 local governments are eligible for the funding.

Ravi Kahlon, the Minister of Housing, provided a short overview that notes of  some of the challenges facing local government.

“There is an urgent need for more homes for people, and we are working with local governments to build this housing faster. With new housing actions to build homes in our communities, it is important that we support local governments to improve the processes to get the housing built that people in our community desperately need. By providing them with upfront funding, instead of distributing it over time, local governments will be able to support the building of more housing as quickly as possible.”

The information release outlines how the province sees the money being put to use:

Local governments can use this funding to update housing needs reports, zoning bylaws, development cost charge and amenity cost charge bylaws, and community plans by hiring consultants and staff, and to do research and community engagement, as part of the transition to improve the development approvals process. 

This funding will be especially beneficial for smaller local governments that may have fewer resources to make changes.

Further background on Wednesday's announcement can be reviewed here.

As we noted last week,  Prince Rupert City Council received a short overview on the impact of the provincial changes on the municipality at their January 8th Council session, a wider report for the Council members is to come shortly from city staff.

How the province will distribute funding around the rest of the North Coast region is as follows:

District of Port Edward -- $152,151

North Coast Regional District -- $102,916

Around the Northwest the funding distribution looks as follows:

City of Terrace --  $210,297

Town of Smithers -- $175,493

District of Houston -- $164,180

District of Kitimat -- $188,492

District of New Hazelton -- $152,792

District of Stewart -- $151,927

Village of Burns Lake -- $158,332

Village of Granisle -- $151,378

Village of Hazelton -- $151,558

Village of Telkwa -- $156, 466

Regional District of Kitimat Stikine -- $183,089

Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako -- $198,964

Haida Gwaii Communities funding is as follows:

Village of Daajing Giids -- $154,473

Village of Masset -- $153,293

Village of Port Clements -- $151,141 

The full list of which community gets how much funding can be reviewed here.

More notes on housing in the Northwest can be reviewed here.

Our look at Provincial government themes is available here .