Government Relations Update #336

HAVAN News
December 14 2019	GRU #336

Government Relations Update #336

Mark Sakai, Director of Government Relations and

Jay Chadha, Government Relations Research Associate

Twitter: @Mark_HAVAN

METRO WEST

For Your Information

On the agenda for Burnaby's Regular Council Meeting of 16 December is a report regarding the city's potential participation in the 'BC Benchmarking Pilot Program to Reduce Energy Use and Emissions From Buildings'.
The Squamish Nation approved the 6,000-unit Senakw development on reserve land in Kitsilano. Since then, the city of Vancouver has publicly announced their support for this project. For those looking for more information, this piece in The Tyee provides some great insights into the development.
Toronto poaches the City of Vancouver - Abi Bond, Vancouver's Managing Director of Homelessness Services and Affordable Housing Programs, is taking on a new position as the Executive Director of Toronto's Housing Secretariat.
Vancouver now has Canada's most expensive two-bedroom rentals as per the National Rents Report by Rentals.ca.
On the agenda for Richmond's Planning Committee meeting of 17 December is a staff report titled '2019 Summary Report - Community Information Sessions on Development, Affordable Housing, Transportation and Sustainability in the City' (pg. 9).

NORTHEAST SECTOR

For Your Information

Coquitlam has added an Early Building Permit Application Submission for projects that require rezoning, have a very low risk of changes between Third and Final Reading, and demonstrate a commitment to prompt commencement of construction. Here is a draft of the submission form. Also from Coquitlam, they are working on process improvements for plumbing plan review and inspections, and updating the off-street loading and waste collection requirements.
On the agenda for Coquitlam's Council-in-Committee meeting of 16 December is a report on ' Commercial Zones Review - Public Consultation Summary and Opportunities for Improvement'.
Coqutilam's 2020-2023 Strategic Plan is on the agenda for the city's Regular Council meeting of 16 December.
Sparked by rental incentives, approximately 4,500 new rental homes are underway in Coquitlam (In various stages of the approval process/construction) as per the city.

SOUTH OF FRASER

For Your Information

At Langley Township's Regular Evening Council Meeting of 16 December, a report on 'Zoning Bylaw Update - Dwelling Unit Definition' is on the agenda. In addition, there is a motion on notice from Cllr. Arnason on a 'Micro Transit Pilot Project for the Township' (pg. 26 of the agenda).
A report on 'Langley City: Nexus of Community Progress Report Ending 2019' is on the agenda for Langley City's Regular Council meeting of 16 December.
On the agenda for Surrey's Regular Council Meeting (Public Hearing) of 16 December are the following corporate reports: Quarterly Update on Program to Reduce Building Permit Wait Times (R236); Opportunities to Reduce the Duration and Costs of the Capital Infrastructure Projects (R233).
At Delta's Regular Council Meeting of 16 December, a report regarding the Mayor's Housing Task Force is on the agenda (Item F.12, pg. 6).
On the agenda for White Rock's Regular Council Meeting of 16 December is a motion put forward by Cllrs. Manning and Kristjanson regarding a 'Proposed Bylaw to Protect Renters from Demo-Victions' (pg. 7).

NORTH SHORE

For Your Information

Congratulations to North Vancouver District for doing something (anything) to support more housing choice.

REGIONAL, PROVINCIAL, NATIONAL

For Your Information

BC's Speculation Tax is set to increase to 2% from December 31.
The upcoming property assessments for 2020 will 'reflect BC's moderating real estate markets' as per BC Assessment.
Here is JLL's report on the most expensive streets for office space in Canada.
Here is BCREA's report titled 'Home Sales Firming Across the Province'.
This report titled 'Making Rental a Reality' looks at the Residential Rental Tenure Zoning Tool and its implications for land use planning. Also, here is an executive summary of the report.
This piece in the G&M discusses why residential real estate is still a great investment in Canada.
PM Trudeau has issued revamped mandate letters for his cabinet ministers. Interestingly, Finance Minister Bill Morneau has been asked to take another look at the mortgage stress test and review potential changes. Additionally, he has been tasked with bringing forward a 1% vacancy and speculation tax on properties owned by non-resident non-Canadians.
Millennials moving to Canadian suburbs may drive up home prices as per Royal Lepage CEO, Phil Soper (I mean, adequate supply could definitely ease these concerns).

RENOVATIONS

For Your Information

HOUSING AFFORDABILITY

For Your Information

Why is HAVAN so concerned with the role of new housing supply (and housing choice) in affordability? This excellent blog post from Nathan Lauster demonstrates that new housing units are predominantly purchased by upper income local residents, thus freeing up 'old housing' for middle and lower income households. If we didn't build new housing, those upper income households would be competing with everyone else to purchase old housing - and guess who wins out?
It's good to see more and more city councillors (even if they're in Toronto) coming around to the idea that building missing middle housing is key to getting the right supply in the market and improving housing affordability.
Here's a report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives that suggests that we need to build 10,000 units of non-market housing per year to address the our unaffordability crisis. Given that we've averaged about 18,700 completions/year in Metro Vancouver over the past five years, I'm wondering where the capacity (approvals, trades, supplies) will come from to build this many units (and I'm not even considering who'd be paying of all these units)?
Here is an interesting op-ed from the G&M on 'What happens to millennials in retirement if they never get into the housing market?'

EVERYTHING ELSE

For Your Information

An interesting (to say the least) article in Bloomberg about Westbank's Ian Gillespie.
Here's a piece in Forbes on 'How Automation And Technology Can Benefit Your Real Estate Business'.
Amazon's unofficial HQ2 is set to open in Vancouver. This move could potentially make Amazon the single largest corporate employer in downtown Vancouver.
Here's an interesting read in Forbes titled 'Real Estate And Architecture Year In Review And A Preview of 2020'.
This piece in the Financial Post looks at how despite the slightly negative figures released by StatsCan, Canada's labour market actually remains 'remarkably strong'.

The content of GRU is determined primarily by HAVAN's geographic territory, which are the municipalities of Metro Vancouver (the regional district). Other considerations are provincial and federal issues, policies, announcements or opportunities to engage that would interest our members, housing-related articles and information from other jurisdictions and, of course, the odd tidbit or video clip that interest me.

Please feel free to distribute this email to others in your office, if you think that they would benefit from the information. If you are reading this as a forwarded message from a colleague, you can get your own version, delivered directly to your mailbox. Just let me know, and I will be more than happy to add you to my list. And don't forget, the most recent issue of GRU is always posted on the Government Relations Page of havan.ca.

As always, comments are welcome. If there is an issue or a website that you would like me to follow, please contact me at 778-373-9784, or via [email protected]

Mark Sakai

Director of Government Relations

HAVAN, through its Director of Government Relations, works with metro Vancouver local governments on important public policy issues, including pending and existing regulations which impact the home building industry. Non-partisan policy analysis and strategic consultation is provided in a collaborative approach in order to efficiently deliver to market the required supply of homes to support Metro Vancouver's 21 municipalities. Working with HAVAN members and industry stakeholders, to build and maintain positive relations with municipal, regional and provincial governments, HAVAN is the respected voice of Metro Vancouver's residential construction industry.