New affordable rental homes open in Coquitlam (flickr.com)

Media Contacts

Ministry of Housing

Media Relations
236 478-0251

BC Housing

Media Relations
media@bchousing.org

Arevig Afarian

Office of the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion
arevig.afarian@infc.gc.ca

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Media Relations
media@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

Backgrounders

Information about creating more housing in B.C.
  • B.C.’s HousingHub was created in 2018 and works with communities and non-profit and private-sector developers to increase the supply of rental housing and homeownership options for British Columbians with middle incomes.
  • The Province does not directly fund HousingHub projects. Instead, the Province makes low-cost financing available to developers to build new housing.
  • Through the HousingHub, developers receive loans with lower interest rates than would otherwise be available. The developers commit to pass construction cost savings on to prospective tenants and homeowners through more affordable rents and ownership opportunities.
  • Canada’s National Housing Strategy (NHS) is a 10-year, $82-billion plan that will give more Canadians a place to call home.
  • NHS is built on strong partnerships between the federal, provincial and territorial governments, and continuous engagement with others, including municipalities, Indigenous governments and organizations, and the social and private housing sectors. This includes consultations with Canadians from all walks of life and people with lived experience of housing need.
  • All NHS investments delivered by the federal, provincial and territorial governments respect the key principles of NHS that support partnerships, people and communities.
  • Coquitlam’s Affordable Housing Reserve Fund (AHRF) acts as the key funding mechanism for affordable housing projects in the community by leveraging a portion of density-bonus contributions (community amenities that are negotiated as part of a rezoning process) from development toward potential affordable housing options.
  • Since 2018, approximately $12 million has been granted from the AHRF to support new affordable housing initiatives, including more than 750 new non-market and below-market rentals.