Ravi Kahlon will take on the role as minister of housing for B.C.’s first ever standalone housing ministry, Premier David Eby announced today
Kahlon will also be taking over the role of house leader from Mike Farnworth. Farnworth will retain his role as deputy premier as well as minister of public safety and solicitor general.
Prior to his appointment as minister of housing, Kahlon served as minister of jobs, economic recovery and innovation and previously served as the parliamentary secretary for sport and multiculturalism. In his role as parliamentary secretary, he helped restore the BC Human Rights Commission and worked around the province to build an anti-racism strategy, according to the B.C. government website.
He was elected as the MLA for Delta North in 2017 and was re-elected in 2020.
Before acting as an MLA, Ravi spent seven years in banking and six years working with the New Democrat Caucus as director of stakeholder relations, according to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.
In his speech following the appointment of his new ministers, Premier Eby spoke about fostering a province in which British Columbans could build a life and afford a home.
“Giving speculators free reign in our housing market doesn't make housing more affordable, it just gives speculators more money. And handing those at the top a tax cut doesn’t support a strong economy that works for everybody, it just supports the people at the top. British Columbians couldn’t afford that approach five years ago and they sure can’t afford it today,” Eby said.
Leading up to today, Premier Eby announced in a Nov. 22 speech at the Housing Central Conference that B.C. would create a standalone ministry as part of his plan to tackle the province’s housing crisis.
The announcement of the ministry came one day after the B.C. government introduced new laws to build more affordable homes, make it possible for homes that are vacant to be rented and remove age and rental restrictions in stratas, according to a press release from the government.
Ilm Kassam, executive director of McLaren Housing Society of BC, said having a minister solely focused on housing could help prevent individuals in government from being pulled in different directions.
“Housing is quite complicated, especially in British Columbia. So having a minister dedicated to looking at housing will hopefully just throw focus on the different needs for us. But as a nonprofit, we're hoping that it's someone who understands the differences between the public sector of housing and the private sector of housing,” he said.
Not only should the focus be on getting more housing but also to ensure that British Columbians are continually housed, Kassam said.
“That means that there has to be low barrier, supportive options for individuals so that they can stay housed. We don't want to just house people and then evict people or have them no longer be able to stay in our housing complexes because it's not the appropriate type of housing for those individuals,” he said.
“It is hopeful. I'm not holding my breath for any major changes but I do feel hopeful that at least something is being done and we’ll see how it goes.”
Byron Chard, president and CEO of Chard Development Ltd., said the creation of this new ministry is the first step in tackling the affordability crisis.
“We want to be socially responsible, from building the right homes in the right places to making the best communities. But we can't deliver it all in a single project. And so we are going to do the best we can and put our best foot forward on how we can help design and integrate these communities. And we're looking for that collaboration,” he said.
Raymond Louie, chief operating officer at Coromandel Properties, said that when it comes to the creation of this new ministry, collaboration is key.
“I'm hopeful that this is a really good, positive sign that their intent is to work more closely with the private sector, nonprofits and other governmental agencies to help make that happen as a result of having this dedicated, focused ministry,” he said.
In order to meet the housing targets that the province is looking to apply to certain municipalities, Hani Lammam, executive vice-president of Cressey Development Group, said he would like to see the new ministry focus on completed units rather than approvals. In addition, he said putting time limits on approvals would help to speed up the development process.
“There's a lot that gets approved and never gets built, and so it's futile. I really hope that [the new ministry] will be focused on completions, on getting units built and occupied.”
Chard mirrored this saying that British Columbians “can’t live in approvals.”
“There's no point in a city approving a project that the developer can't build. So it's more important that we track what are called building permits and building permit issuances,” he said.
However, Louie notes that while an emphasis on completions over approvals is valid, he says that attention still needs to be paid to what is getting approved.
“Counting the actual developed and occupied units, I think, is an important measurement of success. But equally, I think you can't just not count approvals as well, because that is what you put in the bank and wait for when those projects can move forward. And you need a number of those approved in advance of when economic circumstances turn,” he said.
According to BC Housing, since 2017, the province has funded more than 36,000 affordable new homes that have been completed or are underway for people in B.C. More than 15,000 of these homes are now open, they said.
Data from Statistics Canada shows that within the private sector there have been 73,548 housing starts and 58,114 completions in the third quarter of 2022, from July 1 to September 30, 2022.
According to Steve Pomeroy, an independent policy-research consultant, there have not been many standalone ministers of housing in Canadian government. Typically, these positions are lumped together with other urban planning issues, he said.
“I think there's this illusion that naming a minister is going to make a massive change. I think it sends a political statement. But I think it doesn't necessarily create the impetus you need because you need buy-in across government and across cabinet,” he said.
However, in B.C.’s case, Premier Eby has made it clear that housing is a priority for the NDP.
“You've got a premier, who used to be housing minister and is quite supportive of the issue. Maybe that's not as much of a problem. And it's really a right hand man for the premier to kind of carry out on his agenda. But as a general principle, the idea of having a minister delegated the house is not necessarily an improvement,” he said.
In Ontario, there have been four iterations of housing ministries that are separate from municipal affairs, according to Greg Suttor, a consultant on affordable housing policy and research.
He says that the first three iterations it was “substance” while the last, under Kathlynne Wynn from 2016 to 2018, was mainly political optics.
“B.C., for over 25 plus years, has consistently had a higher priority and more active programs in affordable rental than any other province, under Liberal government and NDP governments. The main institution for policy as well as programs has been BC Housing rather than a Ministry,” Suttor said in a statement to BIV.
The only way for this ministry to deliver support on issues faced by the industry is for it to work alongside existing ministries like environment and transportation, says Louie.
“My hope is that from a provincial level, that there's coordination between this housing ministry and the ministry is resourced and sufficiently able to undertake the work that the premier wants to happen,” he said.
“Without that coordination, just creating another ministry doesn't solve the problem on its own.”
