Metro Vancouver Housing Supply Challenge Started in the 1990s

Everyone knows that there is a housing shortage in Metro Vancouver. All municipalities now have provincially mandated housing needs reports. I posted about Langley City's report in December.

The Metro Vancouver Regional District recently completed a Regional Housing Needs Report. There were a few things that stood out to me.

One thing is that this housing shortage we find ourselves in today, while certainly exacerbated in the last few years, really started back in the early 1990s. This period is when governments were cutting funding to housing programs. Interestingly, it was also in the early 1990s when the province started the process of shutting down Riverview Hospital without providing adequate facilities in other locations. Decisions made in the past (good and bad) can impact people for generations.

Metro Vancouver Housing Completions per 1,000 Population, (1970 to 2024) and Required Level of Completions to Meet 20-Year Housing Need (2022 to 2041). Select chart to enlarge.

Region-wide, we need to increase yearly housing completions by 22,668. We need to double the current rate in the South of Fraser - East (where Langley City is located). The following chart shows the sub-regional breakdown.

Estimated Annual Shortfall in Housing Completions, Metro Vancouver Sub-Regions, 2022 to 2026. Select chart to enlarge.

Regional District staff made the following overall observations:

• Housing development levels must double to address regional housing pressures.
• The federal and provincial governments must significantly increase their loan and funding programs to build more affordable rental housing.
• Overall, we need more purpose-built rental housing.

Certainly, municipal governments have taken our lumps for being a barrier to getting housing built (some deserved and others not), though we will continue to need to invest in ways to build housing more efficiently to meet the growing demand, such as modular construction.

Please read the April 3 Metro Vancouver Regional Planning Committee agenda for more information.