Housing Squamish submitted written recommendations to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Governance for the 2027 BC Provincial Budget Consultation.
The province’s 2026 Budget “re-paced” investments in housing, including the cancellation of the 2025 Community Housing Fund call for projects. This impacted Squamish by stalling the 100-unit Affordable Housing project planned for 39000 Government Road in the Northyards neighbourhood. It also paused the much-needed replacement project for the Hilltop House long-term care facility.
The 2026 BC Budget put 89-shovel ready projects across the province on pause and left the nonprofit section with an estimated $38M in sunk costs that may be wasted as a result of the delay and uncertainty of future funding.
Our three recommendations to the province are:
Recommendation 1:
Restore funding for projects impacted by the suspension of the 2025 Community Housing Fund and the Indigenous Housing Fund to avoid stranding an estimated $38 million in public and nonprofit investments for shovel-ready projects and expand capital and operational investments into these funds.
Recommendation 2:
Provide capital grants for land acquisition, purchase of existing affordable housing, renewal of older rental stock, and construction of affordable housing to support long-term self-sufficiency of nonprofit housing providers and healthy residents.
Recommendation 3:
Provide enhanced housing supports and treat housing and housing supports as health care. Affordable, adequate and suitable housing is a key ingredient for health. Housing and healthcare investments should be strategically aligned across government ministries.
If the province wants to reduce homelessness, improve health outcomes, and ease pressure on emergency, justice, and hospital systems, community housing must be treated as core infrastructure. That means funding not only the buildings, but also the staffing, services, and community supports that allow people to remain housed. ding strong partnerships.