Get BC Building

BACKGROUNDER 

Get BC Building

A plan to end the housing shortage and make life more affordable

Click here and sign your name if you support John Rustad's plan to Get BC Building!

When housing is abundant, it’s affordable – and life becomes so much better for everyone. Unfortunately, British Columbians have experienced the opposite with the NDP government.

The housing crisis continues to make life more difficult under the NDP, as British Columbians find it harder and harder to secure a good place to live. After having 7 years to fix the problem, the NDP is out of excuses and out of time.

The Conservative Party of BC has put forward a comprehensive plan to tackle this crisis head-on, with the goal of ending the housing shortage and making life more affordable for everyone. 

Our plan to Get BC Building is designed to deliver homes, not hand-outs, so British Columbians can enjoy the freedom and pride of living in a home they love.

 

NDP Have Failed Hard Working British Columbians 

Eby and the NDP have spun their wheels for 7 years: seeking to shift the blame, lurching from villain to villain, all while allowing red tape to multiply and imposing significant new costs that kill new housing. 

In Eby’s BC, working people just can’t get ahead. Each year, too many British Columbians have to lower their expectations about the kind of life they hope to lead – and housing is a major part of the problem.

If the NDP were serious about fixing housing, they would have by now. Instead, they come up with excuses and distractions. Here’s their record, by the numbers:

 

By the numbers: The NDP’s 7 years of housing failure

• 55% increase in the price of a townhouse- it’s now normal to pay $1,000,000 for a townhouse in a middle-class area.
• 36% increase in the price of a condo.
• $3,700/month 2-bedroom rents in Vancouver – and other cities are on the same trajectory.
• 34% increase in homelessness – with tragic scenes now found in communities of all sizes and regions.

In response to the crisis, the NDP is making it harder and harder to build the housing we need:

• Tens of thousands of shovel-ready homes are stalled. These projects have permits, but the economics have been ruined by NDP taxes and hidden taxes.
• Housing starts are collapsing under the weight of NDP policies. Despite more demand than ever, housing starts have fallen by nearly 1/3rd over the past year – across all parts of BC.

The NDP has failed BC. Their big idea is to throw your tax dollars at government-run housing, then take credit at photo-ops while affordability just gets worse. 

Conservatives believe that British Columbians deserve the dignity and independence of their own home, instead of government waitlists run by gatekeepers.

 

Here’s how we’ll fix housing:

Our plan to Get BC Building aims to introduce a new era of housing abundance and affordability for BC. 

Conservatives start with the premise that new homes are a good thing. Few would disagree - but in reality, the bureaucratic status quo treats new housing like a problem that needs to be minimized. Under the NDP, taxes and red tape have gotten thicker, while Eby’s heavy-handed approach with local government has alienated an important ally.

It will take time to build the number of homes we need. That’s why the “Rustad Rebate” will provide immediate relief to both renters and homeowners. It’s the largest tax cut on housing costs in BC history.

From Day 1, a Conservative government will tackle the bottlenecks that delay housing and drive-up costs. We will end the era of the multi-year permit delay, and we will get BC building homes at both the speed and scale needed to achieve housing abundance.

 

Immediate Relief from Housing Costs – The Rustad Rebate

NDP policies have surged rents, home prices, and income taxes. We have a plan for real, immediate relief. 

• The “Rustad Rebate” (BC Rent and Mortgage Rebate) will remove BC income taxes from $3,000 per month of housing costs – for both renters and homeowners.

Beginning with Budget 2026, $1,500 per month in rent, mortgage interest, and strata fees will be exempt from BC income tax. The exempt amount will increase by $500 per year until reaching $3,000.

The rebate will be equivalent to BC’s base tax bracket of 5.06%, multiplied by eligible housing costs. British Columbians deserve better than the endless costs of the NDP: we are committed to helping people get ahead, and it starts with taking less money out of people’s pockets.

 

It’s a crisis. Move like it.

The speed of approving a home must reflect the urgency of the housing crisis. 

Under the NDP, it commonly takes 3 or more years to get a new housing project approved – that’s before a single hammer is swung.

The home approval process must be redesigned to prioritize the need to get building. The Conservative Party of BC will:

• Approve homes in months, not years: 6 months for a rezoning and development permit, and 3 months for a building permit. If a clear yes/no is not issued by city hall within the required timeline, the provincial government will issue the permits.
• Require zoning to be proactive: We will work with cities to ensure that Zoning is changed at the same time as other land use policies, in what is sometimes referred to as “pre-zoning.” Even though Official Community Plans and Area Plans specify what types of buildings are encouraged, cities still require a unique rezoning for each building – adding years of delay that we can’t afford.
• Trust BC professionals to do their job: Critical months and years are wasted by having bureaucracies second-guess the work of highly-skilled, regulated, and certified technical professionals like engineers and architects. We will enact Presumption of Compliance laws so municipal and provincial regulators must presume that BC’s professionals can perform + peer-review their work in accordance with the rules.

 

Get BC Building

Homes don’t exist in theory. They exist when a family moves in. 

The NDP talks a big game, but the numbers just don’t lie; prices are up, starts are down, and projects are stalled. They’ve had 7 years to do the job, and housing is moving in the wrong direction.

The Conservative Party of BC will:

• Remove NDP taxes on housing: The NDP is increasing construction costs by up to 30-40% - in the middle of a housing crisis. This hidden tax, called the “Step Code”, also results in dark, cookie-cutter homes, with few windows and diminished quality of life for residents. We will immediately repeal the Step Code, the radical “Net-Zero” mandate, and all other NDP hidden taxes on housing.
• Support transit-oriented communities: People deserve to live in complete communities near transit, not just dormitories. Bill 47 (Transit Oriented Areas) will be amended to ensure each new transit-oriented community is providing space for grocery stores and small businesses within walking distance of home.
• End over-regulation: Regulators often inflate the price of housing by over-stepping their role, such as by requiring endless design reviews or by forcing builders to give away brand new homes. These are heavy taxes on new housing, and they kill projects – often only the expensive ones can survive. We will amend the Local Government Act to prevent home-killing red tape.
• Uphold the rule of law and defend property rights: Establish the BC Development Tribunal to hold regulators and politicians accountable to the rule of law and fair process.
• Reform Development Cost Charges: Allow DCCs to be paid upon project completion, not as a front-loaded cost. We will also take action to prevent DCCs from being set at rates in excess of the “growth pays for growth” principle.
• Make taxes fair for homeowners: The scale of the housing crisis will require significant changes to zoning. We will work with BC Assessment to make sure that current homeowners don’t get hit with higher tax bills based on future potential.
• Build new towns: BC is blessed with an abundance of land, but the NDP refuses to use it to end the housing shortage. We will identify land outside the Agricultural Land Reserve that has the potential to support beautiful new communities.

 

Working With Cities

Conservatives believe that local governments are vital partners in getting BC building – not obstacles to be overcome.

The provincial government must equip municipalities with the flexibility and support they need to make sure that new housing growth occurs in the way that works best for them. The Conservative Party of BC will:

• Repeal Bill 44: Local government needs the flexibility to plan in the way that works best for their communities. We will work with cities, not against them, to build the housing BC needs. Some municipalities support the provisions of Bill 44, and we will continue to assist them in implementation.
• Create the Civic Infrastructure Renewal Fund: A $1 billion per year fund that will be available to municipalities who are taking action to get homes built. The funds will be available to municipalities whose zoning allows for viable Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing on at least 2/3rds of residential land.
• Stop ramming-through “low barrier” facilities: We will never force any kind of “low-barrier” housing or shelter on a community that doesn’t want it. While many are good neighbours, some have had disastrous impacts – no one should have to worry about Victoria dictating that a risky facility gets built next door.

 

A Rental Construction Boom

Purpose-built rental buildings provide critical housing options for British Columbians, but supply just hasn’t kept pace at the speed needed to keep rents stable.

Unlike condominiums, rental buildings pay-back builders over a timespan of 50 to 60 years – but the costs are front-loaded. The successful MURB tax incentive program (Multi-Unit Residential Building) from 1974-1982 created a strong supply of rental housing by allowing costs to offset taxable income from other sources.

A housing crisis calls for bold, creative solutions. The Conservative Party of BC will:

• Introduce real tax incentives for rental construction: We will work with the federal government to reintroduce a MURB tax incentive program for the 21st century. If Ottawa doesn’t play ball, we will introduce a made-in-BC version.  

 

Accountability in the Non-Profit Sector

The NDP have handed-out hundreds of millions of dollars to inexperienced non-profits with little oversight – undermining public confidence in the role they play to support the lowest-income British Columbians who are most in need.

Tax dollars must be targeted at genuinely low-income and special needs housing, and must be spent with the appropriate controls and professional practices in place.

The Conservative Party of BC will:

• Conduct a forensic audit into BC Housing: The audit will include its relationship with politically-connected non-profits.
• Provide professional training to non-profits building housing: Groups that receive tax dollars to build homes must be given training and support, so that public money is spent in a cost-effective and responsible manner.

 

Controlling Strata Insurance Costs

Strata fees are a major monthly cost for homeowners. In recent years, strata residents have faced unpredictable swings in the price of strata insurance premiums – sometimes over 600% in one year. 

The NDP has ignored the problem, leaving already-stretched homeowners on their own, with no answers.

The Conservative Party of BC will:

• Put all options on the table to get strata insurance costs under control: Strata residents shouldn’t be getting hosed. We will make sure that strata insurance rates charged to BC homeowners are based on the risks to property in BC, not the United States. If necessary to ensure a fair and competitive market, a publicly-owned option will be studied.
• Put the Building Code to work: If the Building Code can help reduce insurance premiums by mandating better materials or installation techniques for key systems like plumbing, we will act to introduce these common-sense updates.

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The Conservative Party of BC's plan to Get BC Building is a comprehensive plan designed to address the housing crisis by removing barriers to construction, cutting taxes on new housing, and providing immediate relief for renters and homeowners. 

The time for bold action is now. Eby’s NDP has failed to deliver on their promises, but the Conservatives are committed to tackling this crisis head-on, ensuring that British Columbians can achieve the dignity and independence of owning a home or renting at a price that doesn’t break the bank.

By working alongside municipalities and streamlining housing development processes, the Conservative Party of BC will get the province building again, creating an era of housing affordability and abundance.

 

Add your name if you support John Rustad's plan to Get BC Building!