Last week, delegates from BCREA and all eight of BC’s real estate boards met with members of Parliament (MPs) in Ottawa to discuss important issues on Canada's housing challenges at the 2022 Political Action Committee (PAC) Days conference hosted by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

Throughout the event, REALTORS® met with 15 MPs representing the Liberal, Conservative, NDP and Green parties in ridings across BC. Our conversations centered around advocating for two recommendations for lasting housing affordability solutions.

Recommendation One: Establish a Permanent National Housing Roundtable
Our first recommendation is to establish a permanent national housing roundtable to bring together all stakeholders in the housing sphere and help address its challenges with an inclusive, holistic and innovative approach.

As part of this roundtable, CREA and REALTORS® can bring their expertise and data-informed perspectives on priority issues and deliver solutions to housing challenges.

This roundtable would provide more data-driven housing policies through the opportunity to advise governments on principles and best practices that promote a fair housing market.

Recommendation Two: Leverage Infrastructure Funding
Our second recommendation is to create bilateral infrastructure agreements with provincial and territorial partners to encourage the creation of more housing supply.

This recommendation calls for a linkage between the creation of more housing supply and federal infrastructure funding. Specifically, infrastructure funding should be linked to goals such as increasing the density of housing, revising zoning laws, and speeding up planning and approval processes.

Existing investments in infrastructure are already tied to various streams, such as green infrastructure, public transit, community culture and recreation. We recommend the federal government to go a step further and add clauses to these agreements to incentivize the creation of affordable housing supply. Doing so will help address housing market needs.

We are pleased that MPs from across the political spectrum were receptive to these recommendations from REALTORS®. Thank you to all the REALTORS® who participated in this important opportunity to discuss policies that promote a vibrant and sustainable real estate sector in Canada.

We are committed to maintaining the dialogue with MPs and elected officials from across BC. We encourage you to also continue advocating for these important policy solutions not just during PAC Days, but on an ongoing basis.

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