Local governments receive grants to speed up delivery of homes

Thirty-eight local governments will soon receive a grant to create more efficient development approvals processes. 

“We’re leaving no stone unturned in our work to deliver more homes for people, faster,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Housing. “The Local Government Development Approvals Program was created so that local governments can improve the internal processes and development approvals, so that we can speed up the delivery of homes for people living and working in B.C.” 

The Local Government Development Approvals Program, administered through the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM), was created to help local governments implement best practices and develop innovative ways to support non-profit housing organizations, developers and other stakeholders to speed up the delivery of homes.

“Our province continues to grow with more people than ever before choosing to call B.C. home,” said Anne Kang, Minister of Municipal Affairs. “We’re continuing to support local governments’ ability to move forward with housing, and this grant funding will help new homes get built faster and more efficiently throughout the province for many years to come.”

The following projects are examples of how the program will help local governments meet housing needs in their communities:

• The City of Burnaby will continue streamlining approval processes for simple and complex buildings. This includes developing business-process documentation and approvals guidance for staff and applicants, undertaking change-management activities and building staff capacity.
• The District of Peachland will initiate a development-approval streamlining project to clarify and improve the development-application process. The project will involve co-ordinating with neighbouring communities to increase consistency across jurisdictions and facilitating collaboration across departments to reduce application delays.
• The Regional District of Mount Waddington is developing a pre-application process so applicants are aware of varying requirements needed for their applications so there is less delay when asking for information.
• The Village of McBride is exploring ways to improve and expedite the development-approval processes and bylaws to get more homes and businesses built within the community quicker.

The Province has provided approximately $4.4 million toward the 2024 intake. The program was open to all municipalities, regional districts and the Islands Trust.  

“Local governments throughout B.C. have been implementing changes to streamline development-approvals processes to address community-building goals,” said Trish Mandewo, president, UBCM. “This funding will help catalyze that work and support local governments as they implement best practices related to permit approvals, inspections and more.”

Quick Facts:

• Applications for the 2024 Local Government Development Approvals Program closed March 8, 2024.
• To date, the Province has provided local governments with approximately $19 million to improve development programs through the Local Government Development Approvals Program.  

Learn More:

For more information about the Development Approvals Process Review consultation, visit: https://www.ubcm.ca/lgps/local-government-development-approvals

To learn about the steps the Province is taking to tackle the housing crisis and deliver affordable homes for people in British Columbia, visit:
https://strongerbc.gov.bc.ca/housing/

A backgrounder follows.