housing Archives

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.

Nuxalk Housing Solutions — Utilizing Community Assets

The Nuxalk Nation in Bella Coola has done some amazing work in their housing and social development sectors. They have come up with innovative solutions to issues that face many First Nations. This 2-part video series is intended to inspire other First Nations to adopt and adapt some of the Nuxalk Nation’s successful strategies.

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’…

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…

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…

Community Land Trusts, Land Leases & Shared Equity Affordable Home Ownership — a New Report

This report on Community Land Trusts, land leases & shared equity approaches to creating affordable rural housing was written by Gordon Borgstrom, Executive Director of the BC Rural Centre. The report is based on research completed by Borgstrom, as well as consultants retained by the BC Rural Centre to work on the project. This report…

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…

Affordable Rural Housing & Community Land Trusts

Affordable rural housing is an issue in many small, remote communities. Community Land Trusts can be an effective approach to tackling this challenge, providing affordable, appropriate housing for rural residents unable to crack the commercial housing market. Brenda Torpy, CEO of the Champlain (Vermont) Housing Trust, discusses her approach to stewarding land for the…

Creating Community: Providing Affordable Housing on the San Juan Islands

Province Partners with CBT for New Affordable Housing

People struggling to find an affordable place to live in the Columbia Basin region will have access to new rental housing, thanks to a partnership announced between the BC government and Columbia Basin Trust (CBT), part of the government’s larger, province-wide goal of creating 114,000 new units of affordable market rental, non-profit, co-op, supported social…