CBT and BCNPHA Release Report on Affordable Housing in the Basin
Wednesday, February 06, 2008

With many communities transitioning from resource to recreation and resort based economies, the region has experienced several significant socio-economic changes in the last ten years. This transition has increased property values and reduced the housing supply, and not surprisingly, many communities in the Basin have identified emerging issues in housing affordability.

Attempts to address affordable housing issues have been met with various local approaches such as Official Community Plans, employee housing policies, zoning bylaws, funding programs, and community social planning consultations.

Research into the Columbia Basin’s affordable housing issues was launched by CBT in partnership with the BC Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA) to create a useful starting point for communities to come together to discuss existing models and strategies that can be adopted to fit their affordable housing needs.

The report compiled the collective knowledge and experience of non-profit housing and community service agencies, private developers, regional districts, local governments, credit unions, colleges, community development organizations and health authorities in the Basin. In addition, ‘cutting edge’ practices were identified from across Canada and the US for further investigation.

Focus groups in Fernie, Cranbrook, and Nelson defined the emerging issues in their communities, and discussed findings in the study’s literature review and demographic analysis.

The study found that creative partnerships with local governments, developers and non-profit agencies, together with sophisticated community engagement strategies and public awareness campaigns offer some innovative solutions to new types of development and models for sustaining and increasing the existing supply of affordable housing in Basin communities.

To download the full report click here or to receive a hard copy, contact Aimee Ambrosone at aambrosone@cbt.org or 1-800-505-8998.

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