The City of Nanaimo and the Strathcona Regional District are among six B.C. communities to receive new provincial grants that will fund work in determining housing needs.
Nanaimo will receive $50,000 and Strathcona $60,000 from a pool of $5 million established in 2018 to help communities develop reports on housing needs.
The hope is that by identifying the need, it will be easier to deliver the housing required.
Mayor of Nanaimo Leonard Krog said the money will allow the city to update the housing needs assessment, which will help it better understand the impact of the pandemic and enable a more resilient recovery.
In Strathcona, the funding will update housing data in four different electoral areas.
“Housing is one of the most central determinants of the health and well-being of communities, and updating housing data is a crucial first step to ensure local governments can respond effectively,” said Brad Unger, chair of the Strathcona Regional District.
The data collected will include population, household income, significant economic sectors, and current and anticipated housing units.
“Local governments and First Nations know their communities best, and they are essential partners in addressing the housing crisis,” said Josie Osborne, B.C.’s minister of municipal affairs.
“This funding enables them to determine specifically the kind of homes people in their regions need, so they can use this information to support their planning and decision-making.”
Under the housing needs report legislation, all local governments must produce their first housing needs report by April 2022 and every five years after.
More than 90 per cent of local governments have successfully applied for housing needs report grants or developed housing needs reports without provincial funding.
To date, 144 local governments and seven modern Treaty Nations have received funding to help them assess their communities’ housing needs.
Governments get half of the grant funding on approval and the balance when the report is completed.
