On Friday, the Government of Canada announced two large funding commitments for British Columbia totalling over $1.75 billion that will go towards much needed infrastructure.
The two commitments are coming via two different initiatives that were announced last year: the Canada Public Transit Fund and the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund.
Canada Public Transit Fund
The first is a $1.529-billion investment in regional transportation provider TransLink across 10 years, via the $30-billion Canada Public Transit Fund (CPTF) that was announced last summer.
The Canada Public Transit Fund delivers funding via three streams: a "Metro-Region" stream involving the provincial government, a "Baseline Funding" stream for transit providers, and a "Targeted Funding" stream for specific projects.
The Government of Canada is committing $1.529 billion via a Metro-Region agreement, from 2026 to 2036. The agreement is so far only in principle and remains conditional on the parties signing the agreement.
The announcement was made just before noon today at Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver by Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson, BC Minister of Transportation and Transit Mike Farnworth, and TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn.
"Today's announcement is the first Metro-Region Agreement under the new Canada Public Transit Fund," said Wilkinson. "This significant, long-term funding is designed to meet the needs of a growing modern region by providing long-term, stable funding to support high quality and affordable public transit, and improve housing supply in the area. Public transit creates sustainable, inclusive and prosperous communities and makes a real difference in people's lives today and for generations to come."
The announcement today also comes after the federal government committed $663,670,150 to TransLink via a Baseline Funding agreement announced in late-January. That agreement will see TransLink receive up to $663,670,150, also over the ten-year period of 2026 to 2036. The number is a maximum and is subject to TransLink submitting a capital plan and the two sides signing a funding agreement.
When the CPTF was announced in July, a set of requirements were outlined that tied the funding to the creation of more housing near transit. Those requirements included:
- Eliminating all mandatory minimum parking requirements within 800 metres of a high-frequency transit line;
- Allowing high-density housing within 800 metres of a high-frequency transit line;
- Allowing high-density housing within 800 metres of post-secondary institutions; and
- Completing a housing needs assessment for all communities with a population greater than 30,000.
Those requirements were not mentioned in today's announcement, but the first three changes were implemented by the Province with Bill 47 in late-2023, before the CPTF was created, and work is already underway on the fourth requirement.
Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund
The second funding agreement announced today was a commitment of $250 million for the Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD).
As first reported by STOREYS in December, the $250 million is going towards Phase One of the Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant in Richmond, which has a projected budget of $750 million. The Province and the MVRD have each previously committed $250 million towards the project.
Similar to the Canada Public Transit Fund (and the Housing Accelerator Fund), the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund (CHIF) ties funding to the creation of more housing. The two main requirements are that applicants must:
- Adopt zoning for "four units as-of-right" per lot in all low-density residential areas with municipal servicing (i.e., water and sewer) in communities with populations greater than 30,000; and
- Implement a three-year freeze on increasing development charges above the rates that were in effect as of April 2, 2024 (when CHIF was initially announced) in municipalities or regional governments with populations greater than 300,000, according to Statistics Canada.
However, when asked if it would be freezing its controversial DCC increases, Metro Vancouver told STOREYS in December that it was exploring alternative measures that are allowed on a case-by-case basis. Those alternative measures entailed expanding its DCC waivers program and extending the protection period for in-stream projects, as STOREYS reported in January and February, respectively.
After proposing the latter, the MVRD said it was waiting for the federal government to consider the proposal, and both measures were supported by the federal government in today's announcement. In its own press release, the Province also stated that it is "intending to change the installment payment timing of development cost charges (DCCs) that will give homebuilders more time to pay," something Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Ravi Kahlon said the Province was exploring in an interview with STOREYS in late-January.
According to the Province, the aforementioned changes to DCCs still need to be finalized — amendments to the Local Government Act are needed — and will be announced at a later date, but change — plus a significant amount of funding — is now around the corner.
