Premier David Eby, Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, and State of Child Care Minister Grace Lore introduced The Homes for People plan on April 3, 2023, in an effort to create more affordable housing options.

The plan focuses on four priorities:

• speeding up the delivery of housing;
• increasing the supply of small scale, multi-unit housing;
• helping those who need housing the most; and
• fighting speculation.

With a budget of more than $4 billion to 2026 and $12 billion to 2033, the plan estimates the government will build help bring 108,000 affordable new market and rental homes to the market. 

Actions include:

• launching BC Builds a new program that will bring together public lands, low-cost financing, faster provincial and local government approvals to help middle income households;
• legislation allowing up to four units on a single-family lot;
• offering forgivable loans as an incentive for homeowners to build and rent secondary suites;
• helping deliver small-scale missing middle housing such as town homes, duplexes, and triplexes; and
• delivering thousands of new homes near transit hubs.

Actions include:

• ending discriminatory age and rental restrictions. Bylaws for 55+ will still be permitted with exceptions. 

Actions include:

• creating a $500 million Rental Protection Fund to provide grants to non-profits to buy residential buildings and cop-ops to protect tenants and keep rents affordable;
• providing an annual income-tested tax credit of up to $400 per year for renters;
• strengthening enforcement of short-term rentals;
• protecting renters displaced by development;
• revitalize co-ops; and
• delivering 4,000 new student housing units on campuses.

Actions include:

• stopping criminal activity in real estate;
• introducing a flipping tax to discourage short-term speculation; and
• expanding the speculation and vacancy tax to additional geographic areas.

Actions include:

• working with municipalities to improve restrictive zoning policies to allow missing middle housing;
• changing zoning to allow up to four units on single-family detached lots with additional density close to transit hubs;
• streamlining and modernizing the permitting process through one-window permitting and digital permitting; and
• setting housing targets for an initial 8-10 municipalities with the greatest need and highest projected growth as outlined in the Housing Supply Act, approved in 2022. 

Actions include:

• expanding BC Housing properties; and
• creating a Community Housing Fund to build 6,000 units for renters, 1,750 homes for Indigenous peoples, and 1,500 homes for women and children escaping violence.

• Read the government news release announcing the Homes for People action plan.
• Read the Homes for People action plan (opens a 32-page pdf).
• Read the technical briefing presentation (opens a 24-page pdf).
• Access the single window for provincial housing permitting and authorizations.

If you have questions about the government’s housing action plan, contact Harriet Permut, director of government relations at hpermut@rebgv.org.