Workforce Housing in the City of Vancouver

Next month, there will be a public consultation on the Moderate Income Housing Pilot Program for the City of Vancouver. This is program is being referred to as workforce housing by some, as it is intended to provide housing for working people making low to moderate incomes.

Under this program 20% of units will be set aside for individuals and families earning $30-80,000 per year, with unit-based rent protection for sixty years. There are three buildings slated for construction, if approved, as part of the pilot project. Two in the east side and one in the west side of the city.

This proposal was discussed at the November 2019 regular meeting of the VDLC, and the following recommendation was adopted. 

Subject: Workforce Housing in the City of Vancouver

BECAUSE we believe workers should have access to good, affordable housing so that they may live in the city in which they work if they wish, regardless of income; and

BECAUSE the City of Vancouver will be holding a public consultation on December 10, 2019, on the construction of “workforce housing” through three pilot projects which will generate slightly more than 300 units of new housing for individuals and families earning between $30,000 and $80,000; and

BECAUSE we recognize the dire need for more affordable housing in the City of Vancouver and surrounding region, and acknowledge the need to support proposals intended to provide more housing to those in the low and middle income strata, he vast majority of whom are working people; and

BECAUSE at the same time, we consider it self-evident that private developer and market based solutions will not solve the housing crisis,

THE VANCOUVER AND DISTRICT LABOUR COUNCIL WILL support the workforce housing pilot project as a step in the right direction, which will deliver some more affordable housing for working people earning middle and, in some cases, lower incomes; and

THE VANCOUVER AND DISTRICT LABOUR COUNCIL WILL at the same time, acknowledge that this proposal is insufficient to ultimately resolve the housing crisis which is gripping this region, and forcing working people out of the city, and therefore reiterate our position in support of public development of not-for-profit housing under Community Benefit Agreements and with certified tradespersons, and the implementation of the AffordableBC Plan recommendations as key components of the way out of this crisis.

Some representatives of the labour council will speak at the public hearing. 

Information on the public hearing, including the agenda, will be posted closer to the meeting date HERE. 

For more information on the AffordableBC plan, click HERE.