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British Columbia is in the grips of a housing affordability crisis decades in the making. The Province has an ambitious plan to tackle the crisis through the largest investment in housing affordability in B.C.’s history. Tasked with building tens of thousands of homes in hundreds of communities is BC Housing, the agency responsible for developing, managing, and administering a wide range of subsidized housing and homelessness services across the province. BC Housing doesn’t do this alone, they work with hundreds of partners. In this podcast, you’ll hear from those tackling the crisis head on.
A home. It's something we all need.
But for too many, having a safe place
to make a home is out of reach.
The challenges can seem insurmountable.
And yet, each and every day,
people are coming together
to provide safe, quality and affordable
housing for those in need.
Welcome to Let's Talk Housing.
I'm your host, Mita Naidu.
Join us as we listen to
and learn from people in British
Columbia who are creating strong,
inclusive communities
where everyone can thrive.
Welcome to Let's Talk Housing.
I'm your host, Mita Naidu.
I want to begin by acknowledging
and thanking the Coast Salish peoples
on whose unceded and traditional lands
I live and work. In particular,
I offer my gratitude to the Kyuquot First
Nations on whose unceded lands I reside
and I'm recording today.
Today we are talking about BC Builds,
a groundbreaking initiative
that's tackling
the housing crisis in British Columbia
by using underutilized land
and strategic partnerships
to accelerate rental housing development
for middle income earners.
Joining us today are Lisa Helps,
who is the Executive Lead of Project
Origination and Process Innovation at BC
Builds, and Amal Abdullah,
who is the Project Coordinator
for Value Added Housing
and Renewable Cities at SFU.
Welcome to you both.
Thank you.
Thanks, Mita.
Before we dive into the details, though,
I'd love to hear a little bit
about what drew you, both of you,
to the work you're doing in housing.
Why is this issue
personally important to you?
Can I start with you, Lisa? Sure.
It really does come out of my work
as Mayor of Victoria,
which was my previous, previous role.
And I saw firsthand
the challenges of getting housing built
from a municipal perspective,
and also the impacts from a middle income
perspective, the impacts
to our small business community
to employers, to our hospitals,
that people who earn a half decent salary,
were still not able to find a place
to live in Victoria, where I was Mayor,
but also across the province.
And I feel the work that we're doing at
BC Builds really excites me because
it's tangible.
It creates housing,
which is obviously our mandate.
But it also adds to stronger communities,
more cohesive workplaces,
more opportunities for families.
So I really... I feel like it's kind of...
even though the focus is on housing, it's
a whole community building and economic
development approach
to some of the crisis
that we're facing across the province
and the country right now.
So it's really coming, borne
out of your role as Mayor
and wanting to see a holistic approach
to housing and community?
Yeah, absolutely.
I come at almost everything
from a systems point of view.
When we're working on one thing,
we should actually be working on seven.
If we're doing a good job,
seven might be a bit of an exaggeration,
but we should always...
I think, be multi solving, especially
when we've got so many intersecting crises
and that's what really excites me
about the work that we get to do here.
Amazing.
Thank you.
And what about you, Amal?
What drew you to housing?
Yeah, a little bit of the same, actually.
Like thinking about housing as part
of this complex and interconnected system.
That's like impacting
so many parts of people's lives.
And so,
I have a planning background.
So I'm always thinking about
like how housing affects,
like transportation and how housing
affects food systems and things like that.
And so when we think about housing
and a housing crisis, it's not just,
about, like having a roof over
your head.
It's also about what access you have to food and
what modes of transportation you use.
And like how connected
you feel to your neighbours
and how safe you feel
in the event of an emergency.
Especially climate emergency.
And so, thinking about housing
as a system and not just like a shelter
or like a roof over
someone's head is what gets me excited.
It's very interesting to hear
you talk about planning.
My father, my late
father, was a city planner, an engineer,
and he also thought about housing
in a very holistic and integrated way.
Religious institutions, grocery stores,
walkable cities,
these were all things he was thinking
about in the 70s and 80s as well.
So, yeah, this is something
I'm really interested in as well.
Let's talk about BC Builds a bit.
It's been called a game
changer in housing.
So Lisa, I'd like to open
up the conversation by asking
if you could break down for our audience,
who may not necessarily know much
about housing and development.
What makes BC Builds different
from traditional housing programs?
That's a great question.
One of the things that makes it different,
and one of the things
that makes me quite excited
to continue to work on this program
in the typical development timeline,
it usually takes 3 to 5 years
from the point at which,
land owner says, hey, I've got land
and I want to build housing here
to the time that actually shovels
are in the ground and construction
starts. Three to 5 years, never mind the 2
to 3 years that it actually takes
to build the building to people living in their home.
So from
I've got land to people living in a home,
it's about an eight year process
and that is way too long.
It just is
for all of the reasons
that we talked about
in our personal introductions,
we're in the middle of a housing crisis.
We can't take that long.
And so what BC Builds does...
We are also looking towards
innovative construction
methods, to try and shorten
the construction time.
And that will come.
But what we do right now is
we look at the pre-development process
and rather than working
one step at a time.
So first there's the land
and then you develop the partnerships.
Then you go see the city and say okay,
what's the zoning?
And then you start on the zoning approvals
and then maybe you find financing,
and then finally you've got construction
and you're doing all of those things
sequentially.
What we do with BC Builds,
and if anyone wants to go to our website,
you can see our beautiful rocketship.
It's also in the case
study that Amal wrote up.
We put everything in
right at the beginning.
So we're working on partnerships,
we're working on feasibility,
we're working on financial approvals.
We're working on zoning approvals.
We're working at...
sometimes the contractor comes in very early on.
And so we put everything together
kind of in this,
we call it our little rocket ship model.
Everything comes in at the beginning.
We create a project acceleration
committee.
And what really is exciting about that
is that everybody knows
everybody else's part,
because when you're working
in that linear way,
no one can see
what everyone else is doing.
And that's one of the reasons
it takes long.
But if the architect understands
what the planner needs
and the planner understands
what the financing person needs,
it really accelerates
the housing, the pre-development period.
So we've been able...
the program's been around for a year,
and we've been able
to successfully compress
that 3 to 5 year timeline into 12 months
in some cases to get project...
like we have about
probably 5 or 6 projects.
I was just looking at this today... already
under construction
and our program just launched a year ago.
That's amazing.
That's a super acceleration in my opinion.
Tell me more about this committee
at the front end.
We started off calling them
project steering committee meetings.
But then, actually as just very recently
and my New Year's resolution is like,
wait a minute, these aren't steering
projects, these are accelerating projects.
So we call them
project acceleration committees.
And it's kind of like,
a good analogy for folks
that also helps me...
It's kind of like a tech accelerator,
right?
Like if somebody has a new idea
for a software or a new tech product,
they want to get to a minimum
viable product as soon as possible
so that they can see, does this thing
actually has merit in the market or not?
Am I going to make
money? Is my solution useful?
And so everyone rallies
around that problem
to try and figure out how to unpack it
and get it to
what's called in the tech world, minimum
viable product as soon as possible.
We're not trying to get to a minimum
viable product.
We're trying to get to construction.
But it's the same methodology.
So we've got everybody there
at these project acceleration committee
meetings, and Amal attended
as a guest, to work on her case study.
So she might want to add in here as well.
But you've got sometimes the
Mayor and in smaller places
the Mayor wants to be involved.
But somebody senior in the planning
department, sometimes the city manager
or sometimes the architect will be there.
Then there are us, as the folks
who are doing financing, sometimes, often
they'll have a development consultant
involved to help steward the process
from a landowner's point of view.
If we're working with CMHC,
we have them there.
And really the best way to describe
it is an obstacle removal clearinghouse.
So rather than
someone sending an email, someone replying
three weeks later because they've got 17
other emails, everything gets triaged
in this project acceleration
committee meeting.
There's a project tracker,
there are action items, they get handed out
at the end of the meeting,
and then two weeks or three weeks later,
we circle back, okay,
what action have you taken
and what are you going to do in the next
2 or 3 weeks?
So it's really kind
of momentum building.
It's also really joyful.
It's really...
it's a very joyful way to work.
I actually love that you just
added that in! Tell me more.
Where is that joy coming from?
I think it's from the satisfaction
of A, seeing how it's possible
to do things differently
because a lot of these folks they've been working in planning
departments, they've been working
in the development community
in some cases for 20 years.
And it's just like, oh, my goodness,
we're doing something together.
And it's new.
And so
I think there's some joy there, but also
just the satisfaction of...
and there are some wicked problems.
I actually think like,
no wonder we're in a housing crisis.
It is so difficult to get housing built,
like even with a whole lot of people
who know what they're doing.
And so I think there's also joy
that comes from wow, this is a...
like yeah, at
the beginning of a meeting.
Like, here's a really big problem.
How are we ever going to figure this out?
And then 45 minutes
later was everyone's brainpower together.
We've worked through it
and that obstacle no longer exists.
And we can proceed.
I think there's some joy
in that satisfaction as well.
That's amazing.
That's probably the first time
I've heard someone talk about
housing programs
and joy in the same sentence.
I love it, I love it, Amal,
what about you?
You and your team at SFU Renewable
Cities have written a case
study, as Lisa was alluding
to, about the BC Builds program.
Can you talk about that and your process
of putting it together and who it's for?
So my role is at
SFU Renewable Cities,
we’re a special initiative of the SFU Centre
for Dialogue.
And this case study that we put together on
BC Builds as a part of our value added
housing initiative. Now, at Renewable Cities,
we think of value added
housing as housing developments
that bring together affordability,
climate action and economic transition.
And we've done a little bit of
work on this before we started working
with Lisa on the case study.
In that we released some other case
studies last year of nonprofit
and public groups who had, prior
to the BC Builds program, put together
housing on their land
for their communities.
And since then, we've also hosted
several workshops
with some of these groups
who are interested in exploring,
building housing on this land.
So when BC Builds was launched
in February 2024,
we heard that there was a lot of interest
from groups about what BC Builds was.
And there were questions like,
okay, well, BC Builds is a new program
and how is it different
from other housing programs
that the province or BC Housing
have launched previously?
And we also heard
that there was a lot of interest across
the country about like replicating the program.
And this interest particularly increased,
we heard, after the federal government
announced some funding around
Canada Builds,
which was intended to sort of like help
create BC Builds-like programs
across the country.
And so our team at Renewable Cities
was already doing some of this work,
with Lisa and some of our other partners
on non-traditional
housing developers
building housing on underutilized lands.
And so when BC Builds launched, we found
that the program was actually addressing
some of the challenges
that we had identified in the case studies
that groups were experiencing
when they had built housing on their land.
And we also found that,
like some of the pieces of the program
were quite impactful
and, like, really important
for other jurisdictions in Canada
to learn about
and for the housing sector here
in BC to learn about, too.
And so we decided to do a deep dive
into the BC Builds program.
And so the case study
is really like a review
of the entire program,
starting from even before it was launched.
And we put it together primarily
for provincial,
regional, local and First Nations
governments to understand the program
and to replicate it.
But we're also hoping that the learnings
that are coming from BC Builds
that we've documented in the case
study can be replicated
to other housing programs here in BC, too.
So to learn about
like the behind the scenes of BC Builds,
I interviewed Lisa, I interviewed
some of her colleagues at BC Housing,
and the BC
Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs.
And as Lisa said, I also dropped in on
some of the project's
acceleration meetings over a few months
until I got to see how
the program was actually like
being implemented in action.
In the case study, we sort of give
like a complete overview of the programs.
And so we talk about like
how do projects come into the BC Builds program?
What are the financial
and legal arrangements often like?
What are the agreements the BC Builds uses
to disperse the funds to projects?
Something else we highlight in the case
study is
what are all the steps that Lisa and
her team took to put together the program?
Like what was the engagement process
like? Their process of like getting a sense
of what lands are available,
for the program and those sorts of pieces.
And we also highlight how BC Builds is
different from other BC Housing programs.
And so, Lisa mentioned the rocket ship,
and that accelerated timeline.
And we highlight that and also like,
the partnership model
and what that looks like.
That's a lot of work.
That's amazing.
From a renewable cities angle.
Lisa spoken about the benefits
of the program from her perspective
and her lens.
From your perspective,
what are the impacts of this program?
So when I was, talking to Lisa
and some of her colleagues,
one thing that really stood out to me
about BC Builds was like
the very strong engagement process
that went behind the program's design.
And so Lisa will tell you,
and she told me
when we were talking about,
when she first started in this
role and started thinking about BC Builds,
she tapped into some of those networks
that she had built in her role as Mayor
and like, talk to anybody who might
potentially be involved in the program.
And so I remember there were conversations
with First Nations groups
or conversations with Mayors
and universities and health authorities
and really anyone else who might
potentially be involved in the program.
And she went and really listened to them
and asked them and said,
what do you need from a program like this?
And I feel that that's very useful
and impactful because
instead of just making a program,
writing up a program, and assuming that
what you have in mind is going to work,
you're actually
going out into community and asking,
what do you need from us
to make this program useful for you?
And, I feel that
like if you're in the long term,
if you're evaluating
the impact of a program, the outcomes
will probably be stronger.
If you have that strong engagement
process.
That went into the program's design.
And Lisa was also talking about how
it really clarified for the team,
too, about what's important to advocate
for, to include in the program,
and what to sort of like park for later
and come back to because
it's not as important to the community.
Deep listening and community
engagement are something that I'm
very passionate about too.
And as I kind of touched on the project
in the very early stages,
that's something I loved about it
also was the deep listening
and Lisa does do deep listening, for sure.
That's something I know about her as well.
I'm going to just kind of
veer into that area of community
and community engagement.
Housing development often meets
resistance in community.
We know this. So what were some of
the particular ways
the BC Builds engaged with communities
to ensure projects are aligned
with those local needs?
Either to you or to Lisa?
Sure. I'll jump in.
One of the ways
that we can accelerate
is that we rely on our partners
to get the zoning in place
almost always before we get engaged,
sometimes not.
And so most of our partners
that have come through our housing
development opportunities platform,
which if people want to Google,
they should. There's some
really interesting work happening there.
But the municipalities do the work of
working with their communities.
They know their communities best.
They get the land zoned,
and then bring it to us.
And so that kind of table
has been set.
In other cases,
we are working on a few large,
complex projects
where zoning is not yet in place.
And, it is really important to,
particularly
when it comes to zoning
or an official community plan
amendment, to make sure the community
feels engaged and informed.
And also and again, I can say this
because I sat at a municipal council
table for 11 years, eight years as Mayor.
It's also important
when the decision comes to council
for them to make that they have... whichever
council it might be across the province,
the courage to look 50 years
down the road and say,
yes, there are ten or 20 or 50 people
who are here tonight who are unhappy
with this housing being built,
but the 300 people
who are going to benefit
from it, that are going to move in
when this building opens
and then multiply that out
50 or 60 or 70 years.
It does take political courage to make
those decisions when the time comes.
But we try with our partners
to do a really good job of informing
neighbours, holding info sessions,
sending mailers out,
all of those things to make sure that... we're
never going to get everyone to agree,
but at least that people feel informed
and that they've had an opportunity
to give their input.
And most
of our work isn't that. Most of our work
is working with pre zoned land
where the municipalities,
our partners have done the hard work
in the first place, which
I think it would be great
to talk a little bit about our partners
and partnerships, because that's really
the secret sauce of the program.
For sure.
And I definitely want to get into that.
And this kind of segues into that.
But what role do municipalities and First
Nations play in shaping these projects?
Well, they are their projects,
and that's where, to Amal’s point
when we went out across the province
and asked everyone who we thought
might be interested,
what do you need this program to do?
One of the key things
we heard from First Nations,
from municipalities, from health
authorities, from boards of education,
is we have land, we have a housing need.
We know our community needs housing,
but we are not housing developers.
We don't have the capacity to develop
housing because we're doing XYZ.
That other thing for our nation
or our community or our school district.
And so what we need is a program
that will give us the capacity
or provide the capacity
to us to actually turn
our vacant land
into new housing for our community.
We heard loud and clear
that that is what was needed.
And so we really built the program
around those needs.
And so First Nations, municipalities,
churches, those are our three
main partners right now.
We were doing some preliminary work
with health authorities
and some exploratory conversations
with school districts.
Their role is providing the land.
And then really
they're the muscle in some ways
behind this project acceleration work
and the project acceleration committees,
they need to commit,
they need to show up and they need to
work
to remove every obstacle that comes up.
And they're doing it, like it's amazing.
We've been working with small
Indigenous communities
in the north, large cities
in Metro Vancouver and everybody
in between, and all of the landowners
show up with that same can-do approach
that they've put their land in, and now
they want to get housing built quickly.
And we, the BC Builds team, kind of put
some of that capacity around their desire.
Right.
That's amazing.
It's very participatory.
It's very proactive in that. Yeah.
Absolutely. Yeah.
So we're talking about municipalities,
landowners, nonprofits, faith groups,
First Nations.
Amal, maybe you could talk about
how this everyone
at the table model
contributes to better projects.
So I sat in on some of these project
acceleration meetings
where everyone was at the table
and this was a little bit earlier
when BC Builds was new
and none of the projects had yet
come to the construction phase.
And I remember Lisa telling me, well,
if you want to understand
BC Builds, you have to see it
in action.
You can't just hear me talk about it or
read
the website that we have.
You need to really see
what groups are experiencing
when they go through the program.
And so I sat in on these meetings
sort of like as a fly on the wall,
and I was just observing
and taking notes on what was happening.
And in that process,
I was really able to see how, like,
in real time,
these groups were able to come together.
All the different partners
in a development project
were able to come together and problem
solve on issues
in real time that came up in the project.
And we list some of the examples of what
that looked like in the case study,
but as an example...
So, one project that I was sitting in
on was a meeting where the architect
was presenting two different designs
of a building, and all
the different partners in the project
were at that meeting together.
And there was a landowner,
there was the city planner,
Lisa and her team were there.
And so everyone was just sort of like
talking through
the design and saying
for example, the landowner was like,
okay, well, what if we moved the community
kitchen to like a more central space?
So other users in the building can use it?
And the city planner was like,
okay, well, what if we
like add a few parking spots here
or remove them from here?
What if we play around with that
a little bit?
And everyone was bringing the pieces
that they needed from the project
at the same time,
at this meeting together,
and just sort of like talking through it.
And of course, like anyone who's familiar
with the development process knows that
not having that
space is one of the things
that can really make a project timeline
so much longer.
And like everyone was just
bringing in the pieces that they needed
and problem solving together.
There's a section in the case
study, in fact, where
I asked all the groups that I sat in
on, I asked them, what are you finding
useful about the space?
And people talked
about all the ways that it made
their job
so much easier.
Just like quick check ins
consistently
over like over the period of timeline
just made their job
so much easier.
And also it like helped build
trust between the different groups, right?
Because even if groups weren't
able to necessarily find the solution
that they were looking for in the
in the project, just having that space
to problem solve was able to help
build them trust with one another.
Another amazing word that's popped up in
this conversation is trust, right?
So I love that also.
Lisa, Amal’s been talking about
the benefits of the pieces of the process
to partners, can you walk us through
an actual real world
example of a BC Builds project?
Kind of from land identification
to groundbreaking for someone
that's unfamiliar,
but would want to bring forward a project.
There are two separate ways.
So maybe I'll talk about...
why don't I just lay out the two pathways
in for public stream projects.
And then I'm going to give an example
of one of our projects,
kind of from start to groundbreaking.
So the two ways
that projects can come in
is just simply approach BC Builds
and say, hey, we've got land or
we'd like to build housing
for middle income households and families.
And in some cases, the landowner
will already have a development partner,
and in some cases
and so that's pathway one.
You've got land,
you've got a development partner.
And then we start to work through your project proforma.
How does this work?
What rents will you need to charge?
How are you going to cover the mortgage
etc., etc..
What are your construction costs?
So that’s pathway one.
Partner comes with a development
partner and they're ready to go.
Pathway two is you've got land
and it's zoned and you'd like to hand it
over to BC Builds
to find you a development partner.
Or in some cases
you've got land and it's zoned
and you may have a nonprofit
that you have in mind to own
and operate that housing,
but you don't have anyone to build it.
So those are the two pathways.
One is the direct intake
and the other is through our housing
development opportunities platform.
And again, for people
who are interested in that, Google it.
It's quite innovative
in that we kind of act
as a bit of a broker. For people
who are interested in that pathway,
I'd encourage them to go
look at the site, look at the property
opportunity notices that are posted.
You can see how it works,
what municipalities or landowners
need to tell us, what kinds of questions
the development community is asking
so that is one pathway.
And I would say probably about half
our projects have come in that way.
The project that I'm going to focus
on to walk through is it
came in through the first pathway.
So the city of North Vancouver
came to us early on,
even before I was working at BC Builds...
And I guess just for transparency,
I was the Mayor of Victoria.
And then for a year,
I was the Housing Solutions Advisor
to Premier Eby with the task of
setting up BC Builds.
So before I got to BC Builds,
I was in the Premier's office
and that's where all this engagement
and everything else
that I'm always talking about happened.
And so through that engagement process
out in the community across the province,
asking generally,
what do you need the program to do?
And then people started saying,
well, when's it starting? I've got land.
And so City of North Vancouver was one
of the first ones through the door.
They have an old one story
neighbourhood house
that delivers amazing
programs to their community.
The building was built,
I think, in the 60s at end of life.
And they weren't planning in their city
capital plan
to build a new neighbourhood
house until 2028.
But they did have some land.
And so they said, well, wait a minute, can
we put a new neighbourhood house underneath
and can we put housing on top?
And so we started having
those conversations probably, I think like
very early kind of summer of 2023,
just like at the idea stage.
And then by December of 2023,
the city council had engaged Catalyst
as their development partner, who
they were working on another project with.
So they had that relationship.
And then we got involved,
I think the project acceleration
committee meetings
began in January of 2024.
And then we just we walked through...
the land was zoned already,
but it's a mass timber building,
so it's very complex, 18 storeys
with three storeys of community space
on the first three floors and
15 stories of housing on top.
So the design process happened.
The project was led by the city's
deputy city manager,
and the head finance guy,
and some folks
from in the planning department.
And that project worked like
all of the kudos for that project
go to the staff at the City
of North Vancouver
and the folks at Catalyst Development.
And this one was a bi-weekly project
acceleration committee meeting.
Because it was such a complex project,
so many players,
the city
had to go in the middle of the process
and go to the public and ask to borrow
$50 million, for their portion.
And the public thankfully said yes.
And now it's February of 2025.
We started in January 2024
and they are under construction
like that project started construction
a couple of weeks ago.
And it's just that kind of a walk
through, every two weeks for a whole year.
It seems like so much time.
But it actually,...
that project
would usually take 3 to 5 years
just to get to construction.
Wow. That's amazing.
That's truly amazing. Yeah.
Even the public consultation process,
this was still within a year.
Well, the land was already zoned.
So that's key like
that is really key.
So the public consultation process
had happened some time ago
whenever the city took
the proactive step to zone the land.
But the public,
there was definitely that added step
of convincing the public
that $50 million was a good idea to spend.
So yeah, that's true.
There was that public consultation
on the money side for the city.
Amazing, amazing.
So collaboration, courage, joy.
Speed. And trust.
And trust. Right.
Like amazing components
to an exceptionally unique program.
How do you see this kind of program
influencing the future
of housing development, Lisa, in Canada?
I never want to be too
rah rah rah BC Builds.
And so, Barb,
from the City of North Vancouver,
we actually held a session at,
I believe it was the Housing
Central Conference where we invited
one of our private partners,
one of our public partners,
and one of our nonprofit partners
so three different groups,
and asked them to talk about
all the things
that we're talking about here,
but also what are some of the challenges,
because it can't all be as good
as we're talking about.
So I will answer your question,
but some of the challenges are
that it really does require staff,
at the municipality or the First Nation
to prioritize the project, which means
that they are deprioritizing other things
so that can be challenging.
It requires people
to stretch out of their comfort zones,
and out of their regular line of work
sometimes.
So that can also be a challenge.
And then just the pace,
like going at that pace.
We've really tried hard
not to miss things,
but sometimes,
we're moving so quickly.
And this is why the case study that Amal
did was so useful.
We're moving so quickly.
What are the things that we would have
done differently had we taken more time?
And then a learning on that project
can go to the next project and say,
okay, wait, even though we're moving
quickly, we need to do this thing.
So there's some learnings that can come.
But I think those are
some of the challenges. In terms of how
this has the potential to impact
the way that housing is built.
We did a survey of our partners,
and actually, I don't even think
I've shared this with Amal.
We did a survey
of all of our public stream partners,
at the end of year one and asked them
what worked,
what didn't work,
what can we do better, what's useful?
And, what will you take from BC Builds
to inform other parts of your work
or other parts of housing development?
And so I think part of what BC Builds
can offer and I'm again,
Amal’s work is so important for the scaling
up in the transformational piece
is that it is actually possible
to compress that predevelopment timeline.
It is actually possible
to get housing built faster.
It is.
And so one of the key things
that people said
they would take from their work
with BC Builds to other projects
in their municipalities
or First Nations or in the private sector
are these project acceleration
committee meetings like that is a key tool
that has a potential
to be transformational.
So I do think it's possible for BC Builds
to have an influence
just beyond our program
by A, everyone reading Amal’s case study
and seeing how the work happens,
but B, using some of the tools
that we've created for our purpose
and translating them to other purposes
for both housing projects
and other kinds of community projects,
or development projects as well.
These intersections are critical.
That's I think
the proof is here that these intersections
and collaborations are critical.
What advice, Lisa,
would you give other provinces or cities
trying to replicate this?
Amal and the SFU folks,
their case study is really good.
Like, they did a really good job.
I think they asked us the right questions.
They asked the province
the right questions.
They pointed out some of the challenges.
They pointed out some of the things
that we did well before we started
and the things that probably
we could have done better.
So, yeah,
I guess the advice that I would give is,
it is possible, we are living proof.
And that no crisis
is going to be resolved without
a different way of working together.
We're in a housing crisis
because we've been building
housing the same way
for the last hundred years.
Both on the pre-development side,
and the construction side.
So if we keep doing the same things,
we're not going to fast track, and then,
yeah, just the collaboration and the trust
and the joy are just really
it's a new way of working together
that actually feels good.
And work is hard
and building things is hard.
It's really, really hard.
And so creating these committees,
these project acceleration committees,
where people have a shared purpose,
they have a shared goal,
they have a shared timeline.
It is very motivating.
So there's no...
this is actually kind of interesting.
There's no shortcuts
to a project acceleration committee.
Like, you have to show up.
You have to collaborate.
You have to be willing
to change your position
if somebody in
the group has a better idea,
you have to be willing to problem solve.
That's some of the advice
that I would give.
It's hard work. Like it is not easy.
Right.
I mean, it sounds extremely complicated
but extremely rewarding.
Yeah. And that's the gift.
Before we wrap up, Amal,
you've talked about the work
around BC Builds,
but what are some of the other projects
that Renewable Cities
is working on around housing?
Yeah, thanks for asking.
So the goal of our work at Renewable
Cities isn't just to build more housing
for its own sake, but to really create
excellent housing that serves
people's needs to be connected
to their communities
and also live within the planet's limits.
And so the BC Builds case
study is one way that we're thinking
about excellent housing.
And we're
also thinking about social connectedness
and climate resilience in housing design.
So another initiative
that we're working on in collaboration
with Hey Neighbour Collective and Happy
Cities is called Housing That Connects Us.
And I'll give you an example
of what we're doing there.
But the critical question
that we're asking about in that initiative
is, how do we transform our existing
housing spaces
to better serve
the needs of the residents who live there?
So if you take the example
of a three storey walk up apartment
building, for example,
they're often older,
but they have more affordable
rental stock.
And they often also have like a very large
set back or a lawn
that surrounds them that has grass.
But it's not very engaging
or used very often by the residents.
And in cases like those,
we're asking questions like,
well, what could happen
if we created a garden space
that offers a chance for residents
to meet each other there?
And what if there's
also a rain garden in there
for managing stormwater on the property?
Can we do something like
creating
a little seating nook in a corridor
so that residents have,
like, a little space
to gather and have conversations
and get to know each other better?
And how does that help them
get to know their neighbours?
And check in the next time an extreme
heat event rolls around, for example.
So what we're really asking is,
what are all the different ways
that we can make our housing design
more socially connected
and climate resilience
to create those connections,
and make housing
really excellent for everyone?
And that's something we'll be exploring
over the next few months
in that initiative.
Amazing.
This is
a beautiful connection point,
between BC Builds and SFU,
but also between Lisa
and you, Amal. I think this is a really cool
relationship.
Thank you both for
this really insightful conversation.
And listeners, if you want to learn more,
check out BC Builds
website and Amal’s case study on the website.
Is it on the website right now?
Amal?
It's on the SFU Renewable Cities website.
Well, but we should put it on our website.
What is wrong with us?
That’s what came to mind right now for me too.
We've got to go on our website and
actually we can help with that.
Yeah. For sure. Yeah.
Action item.
I’ll write to Allie right away and get it up there.
Yeah. Exactly.
And as always stay curious
and stay engaged and see you next time.
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