Right to Cool in Apartments and Townhouses

We have been getting more extreme heat events over the last several years. The Metro Vancouver heat dome in 2021, when over 600 people died, stands out as one of the worst climate-related incidents in Canada. In BC, newly constructed buildings must have living spaces that cannot have temperatures that exceed 26°C. This change came into effect in March last year.

Of course, many older buildings don't have cooling systems, whether they are strata or rental. Last week, elected local government representatives from across the Lower Mainland met for our annual Lower Mainland Local Government Association Conference. One part of the conference includes debating motions where we collectively would like the province or federal governments to take action. One such matter was the right to cool.

The Metro Vancouver Regional District, City of Vancouver, City of North Vancouver, and Vancouver Coast Health recently released a whitepaper called "Thermal Safety in Existing Multi-Unit Residential Buildings." One of the barriers to allowing people to install cooling systems can be strata councils and landlords.

The provincial government needs to change the Strata Property Act to allow individual owners to install active and passive cooling measures at their discretion and prevent the ability of strata councils to restrict passive or mechanical cooling or ventilation measures. At the same time, the province needs to provide a toolkit for stratas to help ensure measures are in place for the safe installation of these systems.

For rental properties, the province needs to change the Residential Tenancy Act to ensure tenants have the "right to cool," which could range from requiring landlords to allow portable or window A/C units to require retrofits of older buildings.

Elected representatives at the conference voted in favour of asking the province to take action.

May 5 Council Notes: Seniors' Affordable Housing

On Monday, Langley City Council met with Langley Seniors in Action. This advocacy organization is seniors-led and focuses on driving change that creates positive impacts for older people in Langley.

The conversation focused on housing for older people with a lower income (such as those only receiving CPP, OAS, or GIS) and the lack of housing options for these folks. We discussed how partnerships will be essential to build more deeply affordable housing units. We noted that the private sector alone won't be able to provide these deeply affordable, seniors-focused housing units and will require significant funding from the provincial and federal governments.

We discussed the redevelopment of affordable housing sites, such as what is occurring at the Langley Lions Housing Society site, to ensure that seniors are not displaced. For example, at that site, the intent is for the current vacant area to have new buildings with existing residents relocated to new buildings to allow for an older building to be gradually redeveloped. Over time, the site would have newer buildings, but the people who live there could remain on the site.

We also discussed current older market rental buildings, the state of repair of these buildings, and redevelopment.

We discussed inclusionary zoning, which the City is working on. Inclusionary zoning allows municipalities to require a percentage of new housing units priced below-market in new housing projects. You can read more about this in a previous post.

We also touched on other topics, but these were the main highlights.

Later in the meeting, Council gave final reading of our tax rate bylaw. You can read more about this in a previous post.

The State of Flood Management and Dikes in Metro Vancouver

A few years back, I posted a report on the state of the dike network in the Lower Mainland. A 2015 report found that “almost all of the dikes are substandard and most will not withstand the provincially adopted design flood events.”

The provincial government transferred the responsibility of maintaining dikes to a patchwork of municipalities and diking authorities more than 20 years ago. The results have been inconsistent maintenance of dikes and a network that doesn’t meet modern flood protection standards.

One of the gaps right now is the lack of an over‐arching organization that can help coordinate flood management, including dikes. However, the Metro Vancouver Regional District is doing some of that work now. They recently completed documenting and mapping all flood-related improvement projects in the region since around 2010.

Map of flood-related capital projects in Metro Vancouver from around 2010 to today. Select the map to enlarge. Source: Metro Vancouver

They found that 47% of dikes are in a poor state of repair, and most do not meet modern flood protection standards, including the risk of overtopping durning a flood event or being damaged during an earthquake.

Summary of dike vulnerabilities and state of repair in Metro Vancouver. Source: Metro Vancouver

With this understanding, the Regional District is now looking at putting together a prioritization list for flood management projects to help reduce the risk in our region. Local authorities could use this data to help secure funding from the federal and provincial governments based on risk level.

While work has been done to reduce flood risk, we have much more work to do.

April 28 Council Notes: Tax Rate, Letter, and Fire Rescue Service Review

Yesterday, I posted about the BC Builds below-market rental, mixed-use building, which received third reading or approval in principle at Monday’s Langley City Council meeting. Today, I wanted to post about the other matters that Council addressed.

Council gave first, second, and third reading to our 2025 tax rate bylaw. This bylaw enables the City to collect property tax per our 2025 – 2029 Financial Plan. In previous posts, you can read more about this plan’s operations and capital budget sections.

The Council also approved the work plans for our Arts, Recreation, Culture, and Heritage Committee as well as our Accessibility Advisory Committee.

Langley City Council received a letter from Langley Seniors in Action who expressed concern about the loss of affordable housing and potential actions they’d like the City to take. Langley City Council will meet with this group soon to discuss their concerns.

Langley City is celebrating its 70th Anniversary, and our first Citizen’s Assembly is happening now. Council approved using $47,000 from our Council Enterprise Fund to help ensure people are up-to-date on the Assembly’s work and more aware of community-wide engagements. The City will also use the funds to create a Langley City historical stories series and promote our 70th Anniversary in the Downtown core and at community events.

Council released the executive summary and recommendations from our Langley City Fire Rescue Service Review. However, due to privacy and confidentiality concerns, Council declined to release the full report.

Council also received a letter from the Metro Vancouver Regional District requesting feedback on a proposal to change our regional growth strategy in Delta. Council requested that City staff prepare a response.

Finally, Council released the names of people recently appointed to various City committees. You can read more about this on Monday’s Council meeting agenda.