B.C. Adopts New Housing Permit Strategy

The Province has announced a move to cut some red tape surrounding building permits.

It’s aimed at tackling the housing crisis.

Currently, homebuilders may require multiple provincial permit applications spanning different ministries with different processes.

The new strategy will streamline the process and create a single, coordinated approach to housing-related permits and authorization, hopefully speeding up the process and eliminating the need for multiple applications across ministries.

While the single application window is being established over the coming months, permit and authorization decisions will be expedited through a cross-ministry team focused solely on processing housing permits.

A coordinated provincial approach is also expected to make application reviews more streamlined for First Nations, which are consulted on each provincial authorization.

The strategy will prioritize the housing that most urgently needs to be built, such as Indigenous-led projects, BC Housing applications and multiple-unit applications.

Priority will also be given to housing projects in municipalities that are subject to the speculation and vacancy tax because they have the greatest housing shortages, lowest vacancy rates and most demand for housing.