Housing and Municipal Affairs
Summary
- Proposed amendments will provide communities with new tools to lower up-front costs and help get more homes built
- B.C. communities will be ready to access federal funding that supports infrastructure
- Communities will have increased flexibility to encourage more homes for people in communities they love
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Providing communities new tools to reduce upfront costs for homebuilders and allowing communities to be eligible for federal infrastructure funding is the goal as the Province introduces legislative amendments to help get more homes built quicker.
“People need more homes they can afford, and lowering the upfront costs of building helps make that happen,” said Christine Boyle, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs. “Limits on when communities can reduce development charges make it harder to move important housing projects forward. These changes will help local governments be eligible for more federal funding and support homebuilders so more homes and community infrastructure can get underway sooner.”
The proposed amendments will allow the Province to establish new eligible project categories that local governments and TransLink could choose to apply to reduce development cost charges (DCC, referred to as development cost levies in the City of Vancouver). Local governments and TransLink collect these charges from new projects to help fund the infrastructure needed to support community growth. Under current provincial legislation, local governments and TransLink can only waive or reduce charges for a small number of specific project types to reduce the cost for building them.
Making it easier for homebuilders to get projects underway
These changes will enable more flexibility to reduce or waive development charges for additional types of housing that communities want. The Province will be able to set these categories through future regulation. Lowering the upfront costs will reduce financial barriers for homebuilders and help them build more housing projects in today’s uncertain economic environment.
Improving affordability, housing options
This flexibility will help communities use their development finance tools in ways that better support the homes people need, affordability goals and reconciliation priorities, helping communities grow in a way that works better for people. As the Province works with communities to solve the housing crisis, this flexibility will also help them meet provincial housing targets, which strengthens communities.
Unlocking federal funding for community infrastructure
B.C. is acting now to prepare for the federal program that supports the infrastructure that communities rely on and helps get more homes built quicker. Canada’s proposed Build Communities Strong fund requires provinces to reduce development charges on multi‑unit housing, among other conditions, to access federal infrastructure dollars.
- The provincial and territorial stream of the federal Build Communities Strong Fund will deliver more than $17 billion over 10 years across Canada to support housing-enabling infrastructure, health-related infrastructure, and infrastructure at colleges and universities.
- With the changes in place, local governments and TransLink will be positioned to access federal funding once the fund criteria are finalized.
These steps are part of B.C.’s plan to get more homes built to strengthen critical infrastructure and help communities grow in ways that support people. They build on earlier provincial measures that allow homebuilders to delay paying 75% of development fees for up to four years or until occupancy, whichever comes first, helping reduce the cost of delivering new homes.
Since 2017, the Province has more than 95,000 homes delivered or underway in communities throughout B.C.
Quotes:
Tom Dyas, mayor of Kelowna –
“This is a positive first step in giving local governments the autonomy to make decisions that affect our communities. This change will streamline the process associated with applying the development cost-charge tool, to support housing development, while keeping pace with critical infrastructure in a fast‑growing community like Kelowna. Our residents elected council to make local decisions about growth and infrastructure in our community and this legislation restores some of that authority. This change, coupled with future partnership funding opportunities, will allow communities to deliver the infrastructure necessary to accommodate growth.”
Michael Drummond, interim president and CEO, Urban Development Institute (UDI) –
“UDI welcomes the Province's proposed amendments giving local governments more flexibility to reduce or even waive development cost charges/levies. Lowering upfront costs is one of the most direct ways to help get more housing built.”
Wally James, president, Canadian Home Builders' Association of BC –
“Across the province, the ability to deliver new homes by B.C.'s homebuilders continues to be challenged by rising development costs and ongoing uncertainty. We have long advocated for measures that reduce upfront costs and improve access to infrastructure funding. These are important steps toward increasing new housing supply and improving housing attainability across B.C.”
Duncan Wlodarczak, chair, Urban Land Institute BC (ULI BC) –
“It’s encouraging to see the Province increasing flexibility for local government partners to reduce upfront costs and help more housing projects move forward, while supporting communities in securing federal investment for complete communities. Measures like these help remove barriers, improve project feasibility and support housing delivery across B.C. Initiatives like this align with steps we’re seeing in other North American cities, and ULI BC looks forward to continuing to work with the Province and municipalities as B.C. leads the way.”
Quick Facts:
- B.C. provided a historic $1-billion Growing Communities Fund (GCF) to all local governments in 2023 to support the delivery of infrastructure projects necessary to enable community-growth measures.
- To support the new housing density requirements, the Province provided $51 million to local governments to help plan for growth and housing needs.
- B.C. has made legislative and regulatory changes to make it easier for local governments to finance infrastructure, such as easing borrowing approvals and introducing new development finance tools.
- To improve the efficiency of permitting systems and development approvals, B.C. is investing $9 million for the third intake of the Union of BC Municipalities-administered Local Government Development Approvals Program, which has provided approximately $19 million to communities throughout B.C. under previous intakes.
Learn More:
- For more information about B.C. legislation, visit:
https://strongerbc.gov.bc.ca/Legislation - For more information about DCC, visit:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/local-governments/finance/local-government-development-financing/development-cost-charges - For more information about flexibility for developers: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2025HMA0056-000638
A backgrounder follows.
