Cities, housing groups want B.C. to launch permanent housing roundtable

Standing in a boardroom at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Shawn Bouchard, vice-president of Quadra Homes in Abbotsford, B.C., said he initially planned to kick off his speech by burning a $20 bill before putting it a glass of water.

But staff told him it might set off the fire alarm, Bouchard said.

“That’s what happens. When you have a bad policy. You just burn money,” said Bouchard during a news conference Monday.

He was among several groups calling for the British Columbia government to set up a permanent roundtable of experts to lead housing policy as the province’s push to build more homes creates confusion and delays within communities.

The groups, which includes the BC Real Estate Association, the Aboriginal Housing Management Association, Canadian Mortgage Brokers and local politicians and developers, said the roundtable is needed to help make effective housing policy.

Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West said Premier David Eby’s government “opened the floodgates with an avalanche of new legislation” to build more housing, but it has also created “a lot of chaos.”

West said cities are given new rules without advance notice or consultation, leaving them “scrambling” to update bylaws, answer questions from residents and builders through a process that “has more questions than answers.”

“And more often than not, the province who authored these changes can’t answer basic questions either,” said West.

He said this situation has led to “delays, confusion and unintended consequences to both affordability and supply.”

B.C’s legislation has set targets for numerous communities to build more homes and requires local governments to change zoning to allow for small-scale multi-unit housing on most lots that had been zoned for single-family homes.

West said the policy of allowing multiple homes on single-family lots is “incredibly problematic” for builders and also for neighbourhoods that were not intended for such density.

Trevor Hargreaves, senior vice-president with BC Real Estate Association, said frustration is mounting as British Columbians are facing unprecedented challenges in their pursuit of home ownership.

“You have never seen frustration to the degree that it has currently got to,” said Hargreaves, “The dream of stable home ownership is drifting further out of reach for many.”

He said the creation of a permanent housing roundtable isn’t just timely but “essential.”

The groups said the roundtable would bring housing experts to sit alongside municipal and provincial government officials to create solutions that better reflect the needs of communities,

Delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention passed a resolution on Friday calling for the establishment of a permanent provincial housing policy roundtable.

Hargreaves applauded the decision, saying it’s a “major landmark move” to allow all organizations to work together.

“This is more than a policy proposal,” said Hargreaves, “It’s a call to action, a call to the provincial government to implement a structured collaborative forum that ensures housing policy is developed with input from those directly impacted and on the ground, working on the front lines in the housing industry.”

West said the roundtable won’t make any difference if the government refuses to listen.

He said it must be apparent to them that a bunch of unintended consequences are unleashed from their policies.

“So, the real question is to the province: are they going to listen? Are they going to get their ego out of the way? Are they going to not be so stubborn?” asked West.

Speaking from an unrelated news conference on Monday, Housing Minister Christine Boyle said that she met with hundreds of local leaders at the UBCM meeting last week, and she will be considering next steps.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2025.

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press