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More
BCNPHA was pleased to have the opportunity to present our recommendations for Budget 2027 to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services earlier this month. BCNPHA’s message to the province was simple: cutting or delaying non-profit housing investment does not reduce costs, it postpones them, increases them, and shifts them to other public systems.
While the re-pacing of housing targets and investments in Budget 2026 may reduce near-term spending on paper, it will increase long-term costs through lost jobs, deferred supply, pressure on health and justice systems, and the erosion of affordable homes.
Budget 2026 slowed the momentum created by earlier housing investments at a time when those investments were beginning to show results. Re-pacing housing targets and cancelling successful funding programs is not the solution to a strong economy and affordability in our province.
Our recommendations focus on three urgent actions: to Build More affordable homes, Protect More deeply affordable housing, and Support More services that sustain housing stability.
Build More: Restore and expand previously promised capital and operational investment into the Community Housing Fund and Indigenous Housing Fund.
Our recent analysis of the impacts of the re-pacing of existing housing investments indicates that slowing or deferring affordable housing investment disrupts the development pipeline, increases future affordable housing demand, and adds pressure to already costly public systems. It also puts construction, maintenance, and community-sector jobs at risk.
BC currently has the weakest job market in the country. Re-pacing of affordable housing targets in Budget 2026 alone creates a missed opportunity to create approximately 14,000 jobs according to BC Stats.
Investing in housing is one of the most practical ways this government can protect affordability while supporting employment. Adequate investments to meet affordable housing need have the potential to increase BC’s GDP by $46B.
Our analysis shows that BC needs 12,500 affordable homes every year for the next 10 years to meet housing need. But the re-pacing of housing targets and subsequent cancelation of the 2025 Community Housing Fund call put 89 shovel-ready projects at risk that could result in an estimated 7,700 homes and left the non-profit housing sector with an estimated $38M in sunk costs.
If these projects move forward later, they will do with additional challenges resulting from the delay, including increased costs and lost funding from other partners that was contingent on provincial contributions. Furthermore, projects cannot simply resume where they left off. Time-sensitive components, such as environmental assessments, geotechnical work, and land acquisition offers, can quickly expire and may need to be repeated at further cost.
A strong budget should recognize that underinvestment today leads to higher costs tomorrow, more instability for households, and fewer good jobs in communities across BC.
Protect More: Protect existing affordable homes threatened by expiring operating agreements.
In the next 5 years, many of the 13,000 deeply affordable homes with expiring operating agreements are at risk of being lost. Losing these homes would not only displace vulnerable tenants including seniors, Indigenous families, and those that rely on deeply affordable housing; it would also create an estimated $7B replacement cost for the province, making preservation the more fiscally responsible choice.
Relying on potential federal intervention is not sufficient; the province should provide a targeted plan to protect these homes in case federal support does not materialize, with enough time to implement before agreements expire.
We believe the province needs a clear plan that recognizes providers will require different levels and types of support as operating agreements expire. Some may be able to manage the transition with limited or no assistance, while others will need ongoing subsidy and capital renewal to continue providing deeply affordable housing to tenants with the lowest incomes.
Allowing these homes to lose affordability would undermine decades of public investment and create replacement costs far greater than the cost of preservation.
This moment represents both a risk and an opportunity: without coordinated action, people may lose homes, overall affordability may erode and assets may deteriorate; but with the right supports and investments into capital upgrades, non-profit housing providers can stabilize and reinvest in these critical community assets for decades to come.
Support More: Increase investments in supportive housing and the support services that help tenants with complex needs remain housed.
Our analysis shows that we need 500 new supportive housing homes every year for the next 10 years to meet the growing need for this model. This is due to many compounding factors including the increasing cost of living, the ongoing toxic drug crisis, experiences of trauma and mental health challenges that span generations, as well as systemic issues that disproportionately affect vulnerable groups. However, we see community opposition to this model growing and an increased investment focus on limited measures such as involuntary care.
Non-profit housing providers, people who live in supportive housing, and their surrounding communities know that supportive housing works when it is paired with stable operating funding for adequate staff and resources and onsite access to supporting healthcare and community partners.
Done properly, supportive housing is strongly supported by the Housing First model, but our system is struggling with two key principles: housing choice and client-centred individualized supports. Our sector’s mission is designed to support these principles, but increasing acuity of tenants has rendered the existing staffing ratios insufficient.
Without adequate operating funding for staffing, health supports, and tenancy support, supportive housing cannot continue to produce the reductions in homelessness, hospital use, and justice-system pressure that government is seeking.
Investing in supportive housing is a cost-saving measure – the annual costs of institutional responses such as prison or hospital stays are as much as 9 times the cost of supportive housing. Additionally, residents of supportive housing are 64% less likely than emergency shelter clients to use ambulance services and the average hospital stay for residents of supportive housing are 50% less than emergency shelter clients.
Budget 2026 provided no new investments for supportive housing and the new partnership between the province and Build Canada Homes that secured a one-time $270M combined capital investment to build supportive housing must be matched every year for the next 9 years to meet the increasing need for supportive housing.
If the province wants to reduce homelessness, improve health outcomes, and ease pressure on emergency, justice, and hospital systems, supportive housing must be treated as core infrastructure. That means funding not only the buildings, but also the staffing, services, and community supports that allow people to remain housed.
Conclusion
BCNPHA urges the province to support Budget 2027 investments that do three things: Build More through restored and expanded affordable housing capital funding, Protect More by preventing the loss of deeply affordable housing facing expiry of operating agreements, and Support More by fully funding supportive housing operations. These are practical, high-impact investments that will preserve affordability, protect jobs, and reduce future public costs.
Non-profit housing providers are essential partners in delivering affordable homes, stabilizing communities, and reducing pressure on public systems – and the sector is ready: many have already assembled land, secured zoning, and advanced projects that will move quickly if capital programs are restored.
A budget that invests in non-profit housing is not only socially responsible; it is economically prudent. BCNPHA looks forward to working with the province to implement these recommendations.