Chilliwack has its marching orders from the province on the housing front.
As one of B.C.'s second round "priority communities" announced this week, Chilliwack has been given a target of 4,594 new units over the next five years.
The next round of targets came out with a provincial progress report on the first 10 communities asked to meet housing targets in 2023, as part of the Homes for People action plan and the Housing Supply Act.
"People in B.C. are seeing more homes being built in their communities as municipalities progress toward achieving their housing targets," said B.C. minister of housing Ravi Kahlon in the June 26 release.
With "record levels of housing starts" seen in 2023, the minister said the province is on pace to meet or exceed those target levels in 2024.
The upshot is that more than 4,000 new homes, or "net new units" have already been constructed across the province, with thousands more coming in the second cohort as the result of the provincial housing strategy, the release shows.
The Chilliwack Progress reached Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove after the news broke Wednesday, to ask what he thought of Chilliwack being handed a target of more than 4,500 homes.
"Absolutely unattainable," Popove said about the target of 4,594. "Building housing is completely market driven. You can't force developers to develop."
The mayor has been trying to hammer home the point in past discussions with the minister about the need to take into consideration the rapid pace of development on adjacent First Nations land, and again this week it was re-iterated in a meeting with Kahlon.
There has been more home-building activity in neighbouring Indigenous communities, than on non-Indigenous land, Popove said, and that has ramifications for Chilliwack's targets.
The next day the release said: "Municipalities are also encouraged to explore and strengthen partnerships with First Nations communities to support and deliver housing projects on First Nations lands. All actions taken to support the delivery of more housing will contribute to the evaluation of progress toward meeting targets."
It seems there has been a subtle shift in the discourse around housing on First Nations land.
"So I think he is finally understanding," Popove said about the mention of housing projects on First Nations lands, and encouraging partnerships with First Nations. "Chilliwack is a unique community with nine First Nations touching our borders."
Some cities are doing very well only six months in, while others seem to be lagging behind, provincial officials are saying.
Only Delta, Oak Bay and the District of West Vancouver were singled out for not "making as much progress as expected" in the first year of targets. Some communities could face "compliance measures," officials warned.
Although it seemed at first blush that the target numbers are "heavy-handed" for Chilliwack, things will continue to be "business as usual," Popove said about their approach.
City hall staff will continue "turning over permits in a timely manner, and they do a fabulous job," the mayor said.
"We are striving to make Chilliwack a great and affordable place to live," Popove said.
Provincial officials for their part are pledging to continue to have good discussions around these expectations in the coming years.
"We will continue to collaborate meaningfully with municipalities to encourage faster creation of homes so people can stay in the communities they love."
Evaluating how cities are doing includes: the assessment of net new units, policy actions, initiatives, innovative approaches and partnerships that municipalities put in place to create the conditions needed to increase housing supply.
"Communities such as Victoria and Port Moody have shown significant progress delivering the homes people need, incorporating the new housing requirements set by the Province for community plans to build more townhouses, duplexes, triplexes and more homes near transit."
These municipalities are encouraged to expedite their processes and comply with the new requirements to ensure that housing is being built where it's needed.
"Compliance measures may be taken if satisfactory progress is not made by the time annual progress reports are made, to ensure that municipalities are taking action to build homes for people as quickly as possible," the release states.
Five-year targets just announced in the second round:
• Chilliwack - 4,594 units
• City of North Vancouver - 3,320 units
* Central Saanich - 588 units
* Esquimalt - 754 units
* Kelowna - 8,774 units
* Maple Ridge - 3,954 units
* Nanaimo - 4,703 units
* Sidney - 468 units
* Surrey - 27,256 units
* White Rock - 1,067 units
A total of 55,478 homes are expected to be delivered by the second set of communities, representing a 41 per cent increase in overall housing to be built over what was projected based on historical trends.
"The province will monitor progress and work with the municipalities to support them in achieving their targets."
The targets for the third set of communities, also announced in April 2024, are coming later this summer.
It's the Housing Supply Act introduced in 2023, which enables the province to set housing targets for communities based on areas of greatest need and highest projected growth. The initiative is part of the Province's Homes for People action plan to deliver more homes in B.C., building on its historic $19-billion housing investment. Since 2017, the Province has nearly 80,000 homes delivered or underway throughout B.C.
