Establishing a housing authority in the Cowichan region could be one of a number of strategies that might help deal with the need for housing for workers, board members at the Cowichan Valley Regional District heard at a meeting on July 26.
Jada Basi, from CitySpaces Consulting, presented a draft report called Cowichan Workforce Housing Strategies and said establishing a housing authority, and even turning the Cowichan Housing Association into one, could be considered.
A housing authority is an independent government-owned agency that provides a range of housing services, funding and programs to connect people to the housing they need.
Basi said a housing authority’s key difference from other housing organizations, like the CHA, is that it is led, influenced and directed by a local government, and is aligned with local government housing initiatives.
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“A housing authority could provide an opportunity for the local government to have a channel to deliver housing either through partnerships or other mechanisms, and also help to manage the housing inventory, such as taking responsibility over things like housing agreements,” she said.
“The CHA is already an established organization in the region with a good reputation. It may be worth considering elevating and empowering the CHA to evolve into an authority corporation to give it more tools to provide more services for the region, instead of possibly creating a new entity that would, unintentionally, create competition or confusion in the region.”
Basi said that during the ongoing engagement process with the local community on workforce housing, the consultants have heard a lot of curiosity and cautious enthusiasm for establishing a housing authority in the Cowichan Valley.
“Particularly the benefit of having the local government connected to the authority was pointed out, which could generate some confidence and certainty with things like the housing-approval processes and also the potential to attract more investment from senior levels of government,” she said.
“It could also help with connecting with partners to access land, and potentially even partnering with First Nations could be another positive outcome.”
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A number of CVRD directors expressed mixed feelings on the issue.
Bruce Findlay, an alternate director from North Cowichan, said he is 100 per cent against it.
Findlay, a developer, said in his view, housing authorities only work in big cities like Victoria and in tourist and resource areas “where they make a lot of sense”.
But he said a housing authority that would have some control over the development of real estate in the Cowichan Valley is not a good idea.
“I think [local governments] need to get out of the way and let the development community take over and do what’s necessary,” he said.
“We should do what we do at this board and at the municipal levels and create the zoning and the expedience in getting these properties zoned so that developers can come in and meet the demand with both affordable and market housing.”
Cobble Hill director Mike Wilson said he likes the idea of developing a housing authority, but questioned the costs to do it.
Duncan Mayor Michelle Staples said she thinks a housing authority is desperately needed in the region.
“We really learned through the pandemic the value of having committed partnerships with other levels of government,” she said.
The final draft of the Cowichan Workforce Housing Strategies report is expected to completed next month.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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