We’re building more homes that people can afford, in the communities they love. We’re cracking down on speculation and turning empty units into rental units. We’re tackling homelessness and helping people transition into stable homes with the right supports in place.
More homes for people | Getting homes built faster | Cracking down on speculators | Supporting renters | Taking action on homelessness
- Since 2017, the province has more than 93,000 new homes that have been completed or are underway all across B.C.
- That includes more than 6,100 beds for students on post-secondary campuses, with another 4,600 underway.
- Introduced the Housing Supply Act, to help deliver more good homes for people by establishing targets for municipalities to meet the critical housing needs of their communities.
- Creating standardized, approved housing designs to save on costs and speed up approval and construction.
- Speeding up the building of more homes near transit to create more liveable communities.
- Removing zoning barriers to build more small-scale multi-unit housing, including townhomes, triplexes and laneway homes.
- Creating a new Building Permit Hub so homeowners and builders can get the local permits they need more quickly.
- Introducing the speculation and vacancy tax to turn empty homes into available housing for people by targeting speculators who own homes in B.C. but do not pay tax here. This has turned 20,000 vacant units into home for people.
- Increasing the foreign buyers tax to 20% and expanding it to other urban areas.
- Introduced a home flipping tax to discourage speculation and help more people find a home they can afford.
- Reining in short-term rentals, like AirBnB, to turn units into more long-term homes for people.
- Introduced the Homebuyer Protection Period to protect buyers.
- Cracking down on tax fraud and closing real estate loopholes to make sure people are paying their fair share of taxes. This includes creating Canada’s first-ever pre-sale condo registry to crack down on flipping.
- Putting an end to hidden ownership by requiring more information on beneficial owners and passing legislation to establish a publicly accessible registry of beneficial ownership.
- Launching a public inquiry on money laundering in BC, after three independent reviews revealed that each year billions of dollars are laundered through our real estate market and other sectors of the economy.
- Creating new Unexplained Wealth Orders to help crack down on criminal activity in real estate.
- Capped the allowable rent increase for 2026 to 2.3%, in line with inflation. Under the previous government, landlords could increase rent an extra 2% on top of inflation.
- Took action to end illegal renovictions by requiring landlords to apply for pre-approval before ending a tenancy for this purpose.
- Expanded the Rental Assistance Program (RAP) and the Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER) program to help more low-income families and seniors afford their rent.
- Providing rental support for survivors of gender-based violence and their children, helping them to transition to new, stable living situations.
- Became the first Canadian jurisdiction to offer provincewide rent bank services. Rent banks provide interest-free loans for tenants in urgent circumstances so they do not lose their housing.
- Protected nearly 1,500 existing affordable rentals through the Rental Protection Fund, with more in progress.
- Closed the fixed-term lease loophole and the geographic rent increase loophole.
- Making sure renters receive their security and pet deposits back in a fair and timely manner.
- Improved tenancy rights for manufactured home park tenants.
- Established of the Compliance and Enforcement Unit to ensure landlords and tenants abide to residential tenancy rules.
- Prohibited rent increases when tenants welcome a child (under 19) to their household.
- Deterring landlords from bad-faith evictions for personal use, with a new online portal and compliance audits.
- Giving local governments a new rental zoning tool to give them the power to protect and encourage the building of rentals.
- In Budget 2025 we’re investing an additional $90 million over three years to expand the Homeless Encampment Action Response Team (HEART) and Homeless Encampment Action Response Temporary Housing (HEARTH) programs into new communities.
- Since 2023, BC Housing has partnered with 10 municipalities to open 15 HEARTH sites throughout the province, for a total of 611 temporary supportive homes or shelter beds.
- The Province, through BC Housing provided funding for 6,742 shelter spaces in 59 communities throughout B.C. over winter 2024/25 – a 20% increase in spaces available compared to the previous year.