Housing Squamish is deeply disappointed to share the news that provincial funding for our planned 100-unit affordable rental housing project at 39900 Government Road will not proceed.
On February 17, 2026, the provincial government announced as part of Budget 2026 that the funding allocated to the Community Housing Fund in Budget 2025 has been cancelled and future calls are now indefinitely on hold.
The Community Housing Fund, administered by BC Housing, helps build affordable rental homes for families, seniors, and people with disabilities. The CHF program provides a mix of below market, rent-geared-to income, and deeply subsidized units, filling a critically important housing gap. In May 2025, BC Housing issued a request for proposals. Housing Squamish submitted a proposal to build 100 affordable rental units on the site at 39900 Government Road in the Northyards neighbourhood.
Not only are we disappointed that we are not able to proceed with our CHF project, but we are surprised by the pulling back of funding for the whole program. Considerable time and costs have been sunk into negotiating land, sourcing predevelopment funds, forming partnerships, working with community members, and investing in design and municipal permitting requirements in order to be ready to submit for CHF funding. The provincial government’s decision will result in many abandoned or significantly delayed projects across the province, quite possibility including our Government Road Affordable Housing project.
This project would have played an important role in creating pathways into housing for those in our community facing housing insecurity, or for those who are living in transitional housing and looking for affordable independent living. . This housing pathway matters because it creates hope for those who are at risk of losing their housing, or who are ready to move on from transitional or supportive housing into a permanent home.
Housing Squamish believes that affordable housing is a crucial investment in community health. Investments in safe, secure, affordable housing help people maintain their physical, social and mental health, supporting community resilience and the local economy, and putting less of a burden on the health care and emergency response systems. .
We are investigating other possible avenues to fund the project, which may require us to adjust the level of affordability we are able to immediately provide to the community through this project.
We are very grateful to our partners and colleagues at the District of Squamish, Squamish Helping Hands, and BC Housing for so strongly supporting our work to advance this project as far as possible.
Housing Squamish will be continuing to support Squamish Helping Hands in advancing the supportive housing project on the same site at 39900 Government Road and we will continue to advocate for government investment in affordable housing in Squamish.