On May 12, Rebecca Pousette, Housing Manager with Housing Squamish, presented her findings from her thesis A case study examining the barriers to use of public land for non-market housing in Squamish, BC, completed for her Master of Urban Studies at Simon Fraser University.
Rebecca set out on this case study of Squamish on the basis of two assumptions:
- There is emerging Canada-wide consensus that the private market cannot deliver housing that is affordable for a growing percentage of the population, and
- Building affordable housing generally requires access to low or no cost public land
Why Public Land Matters to Affordable Housing
A 2023 Report “A human rights-based calculation of Canada’s housing supply shortages.”, commissioned by the Canadian Federal Housing Advocate, found that if we take income, household size, and population growth into consideration, 45% of new housing supply should be built at levels affordable to low-income households.
Using low or no-cost public land is a critical strategy that reduces the overall cost of building housing and can protect affordability over the long term. Most government funding programs require affordable housing applicants to have the land.
Squamish has successfully found creative housing solutions that have been driven by community groups and strong local leaders
We can keep being collaborative and creative!
Following Rebecca’s presentation we hosted a community conversation. Here’s what we heard:
Whose Job is Non-Market Housing?
•Housing is everyone’s job and affordable housing benefits the whole community, but no one has the whole strategy.
•One idea is to create a Sea to Sky Housing Action Committee
•Help those who have secure and safe housing understand why they also have a role
Housing as Critical Shared Infrastructure
Complex social problems require collaboration rather than isolated institutional action.
