B.C.’s housing minister stopped in Vernon this week for an in-person look at a city where the provincial housing strategy appears to be working as planned.
Christine Boyle, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, joined Vernon-Lumby MLA Harwinder Sandhu to meet residents at a ticketed event at the Schubert Centre on Saturday, March 21.
There, Boyle could be seen chatting with Vernon Mayor Victor Cumming, who told The Morning Star he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to liaise with the housing minister and exchange insights on what’s working at the local versus the provincial level, and what challenges remain.
“We have taken significant action on housing, in addition to historic investments, also in terms of making it faster and easier to build the housing people need. We’re seeing a lot of rental housing, for example. That’s making a big difference,” Boyle told The Morning Star prior to giving a speech to a small crowd of residents who attended the event.
The housing crisis remains a top priority for the NDP government, which is calling on municipalities to help address rising rents and other housing barriers. Last year, the province set housing targets for several B.C. communities, including Vernon.
Vernon’s five-year housing target was to add 1,849 net new units by Aug. 31, 2030, reflecting 75 per cent of the total provincial housing needs estimated for the city.
At Vernon’s Monday, March 23, council meeting, senior planner Caitlyn Wiltsie gave a six-month progress update on Vernon’s housing target and had good news to share.
Wiltsie said from Sept. 1, 2025, to Feb. 28, 2026, the city issued occupancy permits for 270 housing units while 12 units were demolished, making for a net total of 258 new housing units.
“This means the city has achieved 93 per cent of the first-year housing target within the first six months of reporting,” she said.
Coun. Brian Guy called it a “good news report,” saying there is “a pretty good mix of size, tenure and affordability in the starts. We’re right on track.”
Boyle attended Monday’s council meeting and met with the mayor and council. On Saturday, she said Vernon stands as a positive example of B.C.’s housing strategy at work.
She highlighted the province’s work in partnership with local governments to allow four to six units per lot. This small-scale, multi-unit housing initiative has been a “really important piece” of the puzzle, she said, because it allows more people to live in existing communities, relying on existing infrastructure.
“It’s a more affordable form of housing, so in terms of the province’s housing targets and the commitment to build and deliver more housing, I think that’s a really important move,” Boyle said.
Mayor Cumming commented on that policy as well, saying it’s created “quite a bit of infill” locally.
“If you’re in Vernon, you’ll see that. They’re taking down a small, old home, and you see three or four going up on the lot. And for Vernon, that’s very helpful as we go forward,” Cumming said.
He said it was nice to be able to discuss these kinds of policy decisions one-on-one with the minister.
“Because we’re in Vernon and not in Victoria or in Vancouver, we don’t get these opportunities very often.”
As it happens, creating more infill may be key to adding more housing in Vernon without drawing the ire of the public. Back on the regular council agenda for Monday was the controversial 580 Commonage development. It’s controversial because many in the community do not like the hillside sprawl that it proposes, and nearly 100 of those people showed up to the council meeting to oppose it.
Speaking at Saturday’s event with the minister, Cumming declined to comment on the Commonage development as council would be discussing it in the coming days.
Concerning the development, Minister Boyle and MLA Sandhu both signalled a hands-off approach that the government is taking to allow the city to work out the kinks in the proposal.
“For me, as a local MLA, I’m always open to both sides and perspectives, even though the bottom line is the decision is entirely up to (the city) and we don’t want to interfere, because we respect them,” Sandhu said. “We trust their leadership, we trust any municipal government, because as I said, they have a better grasp on the situation. In the province, we’re always willing to help in any way we can when it comes to housing.”
Cumming said the province’s decision to invest heavily in social housing has been another positive for Vernon. The Willows supportive housing building opened on Vernon’s 43rd street in late January, and another five-storey supportive housing building is going up at the former site of the Polson Park Motel on 24th Avenue.
“The growth of social housing has been dramatic. That’s seniors, that’s regular folks who can’t afford rents … and supportive housing for those who are really struggling to find housing,” he said, adding that’s one of the topics he discussed with Minister Boyle.
“Sometimes you have to say to ministers, keep going on the policy that’s working. Don’t change that policy.”
Speaking to the crowd on Saturday, Boyle said she can speak to some of the backlash that has been seen around supportive housing in many communities.
“It’s so challenging because it matters so much that we give people the chance and the safety of being able to move inside,” she said. “It makes a huge difference to have strong partners on the ground in the community housing sector, and local government who are partners in that work.”
Boyle touted the work Sandhu does in the legislature to vouch for things like supportive housing despite the pushback.
“She is fighting so hard,” she said.
Boyle said one of the bigger current challenges to building all types of housing is the impact on costs that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies have foisted on the province and country.
“We’re seeing a bit of a slowdown in the market,” she said. “On the other hand, we’re seeing some really important local leadership on speeding up approvals, speeding up permitting, so that good projects aren’t getting stuck in multi-year delays.”