| If you weren’t already aware, municipal elections will be taking place across the province on October 17, 2026 and affordability and housing are at the top of the list of issues that will be discussed online, on doorsteps and at all-candidate debates.
More than ever, municipalities are at the forefront of addressing the complex issues around housing supply, affordability, building codes, energy efficiency, cumulative levels of development fees and charges, and layers of legislation coming from all levels of government. And here we are today in a cost of delivery crisis that is not serving builders, renovators, suppliers or those that are looking for new homes. HOUSING REFORM ALREADY UNDER WAY… Over the past decade, both the federal and provincial governments have introduced billions of dollars in housing investments and sweeping legislative reforms aimed at increasing housing supply and reducing barriers to development. The federal government’s National Housing Strategy (2017) committed significant funding to expand access to housing, while British Columbia followed with Homes for BC (2018) and a series of legislative changes, including Bills 44, 46 and 47 and 16, to encourage more housing, reform municipal financing tools, and support transit-oriented communities. Most recently, the federal and provincial governments jointly announced a $3.2 billion partnership to reduce development charges on multi-unit housing and invest in housing-enabling infrastructure. MUNICIPAL IMPACT… So, while it appears that there is a coordinated policy approach across senior levels of government, at the municipal level there is up to 21 different and distinct housing needs assessment reports and housing strategies across Metro Vancouver, which provides for a hodge-podge of policies across the region. Land-use planning, official community plans, rezoning bylaws, development permitting, timelines, DCCs, CACs, ACCs make up a very complex environment for our members. City halls are closest to the ground and directly control the services, infrastructure, and bylaws that impact daily life more than any other level of government and most importantly when it comes to getting homes built in an efficient and affordable manner. But as we are keenly aware, the municipal systems in many city halls are incredibly challenging and in many instances are actually putting up barriers. Between untimely development approval processes and in some cases, even poorer decision-making by elected officials, the bottom line is significant delays in getting homes built, additional costs to our members and a resulting increase to affordability of new or renovated homes. And don’t under-estimate the power of a small majority of elected officials. Immediately after the 2018 municipal election, a new council in White Rock forced a building stoppage and downzoned a pair of 12-storey, mixed use towers to six storeys, even though the towers had received all necessary permit approvals. That decision was later upheld by the court when challenged by the developer. BUILDING HOMES, NOT BARRIERS… So it is imperative that we educate candidates on the importance and economic value of home building in their communities. It is imperative that our members help to elect candidates that are committed to the principles of effective policy and improved processes. And it will be imperative that once elected, we hold elected officials to the commitments they made during their campaigns. With a focus on engaging and educating candidates and capturing attitudes towards homebuilding in their communities, HAVAN is launching its “Build Homes, Not Barriers” campaign for the upcoming municipal elections. Every candidate running for Mayor and Councillor in Metro Vancouver will receive a two-pager highlighting what housing looks like in their community, and a toolkit of what local officials and their staff can do to support a new supply of a diverse housing form in a manner that is affordable to build and affordable to buy or rent. Intent on capturing a large audience of potential elected officials, HAVAN’s government relations team will be attending the upcoming Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention in September to promote the campaign and connect with candidates. We will be launching a campaign website in the very near future and you will be the first to get the link. Stay tuned! HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED… In the lead-up to the October civic municipal elections, HAVAN wants to help candidates understand both the challenges facing the homebuilding industry and the solutions needed to support housing supply across the region. To help us ensure our messaging is relevant and reflective of our member’s thoughts, a survey is available here. It takes approximately five minutes to complete, and your input is essential to this year’s campaign efforts. TAKE THE SURVEY NOW! Voter turn-out is also critical to ensuring strong candidates getting elected. While the recent federal election (2025) saw a voter turnout of 69% of eligible voters, that number decreases moving down the levels of government. The last provincial election (2024) attracted 58% of eligible voters and in the 2022 municipal election, the average turnout across the Metro Vancouver region (not including the Villages and Bowen Island) was 26%. Vancouver saw a high of 43% , and Langley City saw a low of 17%. Think about that, only 26% of eligible voters decided who was going to be governing for the next four years. What can you do as a member? Get to know your candidates, whether it is reaching out directly to them to better understand their views on housing, answering the door to candidates who are door-knocking and talk about the cumulative effect of development fees and charges, approval delays or attending all-candidate meetings and ask where they stand on working with our industry, and not against. But the most important thing you can do is get out to vote! And get your family members, friends and neighbours to vote. I have personally experienced local elections that have been decided by a 2 and 4 vote margin. In Port Moody in the last election, there was a tie for the last position of Councillor that had to be decided by pulling a name out of a container. Every vote matters and we don’t need to see winners declared by a raffle or a coin toss. BY THE NUMBERS… There are 83 days until the next civic election in BC. Within the Metro Vancouver region, 256 candidates have already declared their candidacy for Mayor or Council positions. 391 candidates ran in 2022. An interesting trend in this year’s election campaign is the significant increase in the number of registered civic political parties. While they have always existed, the 2022 election saw 33 local parties operating in the lower mainland, and this time around, the number has surged to almost 70 officially registered civic political parties fielding candidates this fall. Some of the municipalities I can share data on: Surrey: 45 declared candidates within 10 political parties Vancouver: 40 declared candidates within 12 political parties Richmond: 35 declared candidates within 14 political parties Delta: 18 declared candidates within 4 political parties Burnaby: 16 declared candidates within 8 political parties New West: 16 declared candidates within 3 political parties The residential construction industry has an opportunity to help shape the conversation before ballots are cast. Talk to candidates. Attend all-candidate meetings. Share your experience building homes in your community. Most importantly, vote. Share your thoughts at wendy@havan.ca. If there are others that should be receiving the Monday Briefing or other HAVAN newsletters, they can sign up easily via this link. HAVAN continues to work with CHBA BC and CHBA to advocate for all levels of government to work together tress the challenges of the housing industry including zoning restrictions, density limits, and NIMBYism. Looking to stay up-to-date on Metro Vancouver’s residential housing industry? Sign up for Wendy’s weekly Monday Briefing and other HAVAN emails here. |
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