Regulations Urged for Short-term Rentals

The Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) has made 13 requests of the province to consider in order to establish a regulatory framework for the short-term accommodations industry, similar to those in place for ride-hailing and other regulated industries.  Read The Report Here

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House Sales Are Booming in Rural BC

House Sales Are Booming in Rural BC — and Renters Are Getting Slammed A July 2021 article by Alex Cosh in “TheTyee.ca” discusses how increasing house prices in many smaller rural communities are causing problems for renters and long-time residents. Read the article here.

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Seniors’ Housing

Slocan seniors’ housing hosts grand opening Sept. 27 Years of hard work, stamina and emotion have gone into the creation and construction of Slocan City Suites, the new seniors’ housing that celebrates its grand opening on Thursday, Sept. 27 in the Village of Slocan. “We’ll call it a ‘soft’ grand opening,” says Slocan Valley Seniors’…

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Creating Community: Affordable Housing on the San Juan Islands

Creating community is a phrase that can describe and include many things — including ensuring everyone has access to a home. Community Land Trusts are uniquely positioned to provide affordable housing appropriate to the places where they are based. This report describes three successful Community Land Trusts (CLTs) operating on the San Juan Islands of…

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Land Leases & Affordable Housing — an Animated Tale!

Land leases can help address the need for affordable housing

“In conclusion, middle-income housing affordability in Canada has become a profound social and economic crisis worthy of serious and concentrated public policy attention.” — Canada’s Middle-Income Housing Affordability Crisis, Frontier Centre for Public Policy, June 2016     When it comes to tackling the need for affordable housing, the current focus for most government and…

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Affordable Home Ownership Expert Coming to Kelowna

  The BC Rural Centre invites you to a free public lecture featuring Lisa Byers, Executive Director of the OPAL (“Of People And Land”) Community Land Trust on Orcas Island, Washington State.  Lisa will discuss how the OPAL CLT has created over 130 affordable housing units on Orcas Island over the past 25 years.  Creating Affordable…

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Affordable Housing in Rural Communities

Affordable housing is a pressing issue in many small rural communities, this webinar features Lisa Byers, Executive Director of OPAL (“Of People And Land”) Community Land Trust on Washing State’s Orcas Island. Providing affordable housing that’s place-appropriate is the real challenge facing many rural and remote communities across North America. There are different approaches that…

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Affordable Rural Housing: OPAL’s April’s Grove, San Juan Islands

Affordable rural housing — providing it is a challenge across North America. An organization located just south of BC’s Gulf Islands has shown it’s a challenge that can be met. From a small group of idealistic volunteers with a vision of sustaining a healthy community on Washington State’s Orcas Island (pop. 4,500), OPAL (‘Of People…

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