Delivering the homes needed by British Columbians requires integrating immigration policy within housing policy. One of the panels at Housing BC Together – UBCM’s housing summit – will discuss the significant housing needs facing B.C.’s communities in order to accommodate population growth. The panel for this session includes Dr. Dan Hiebert (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada); Chris Friesen (Chief Operating Officer of the Immigrant Services Society of BC); David van Hemmen (Vice President at the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade) and Anne Kang, Minister of Municipal Affairs, and will be chaired by Councillor Trish Mandewo, City of Coquitlam.

Local governments are invited to attend a virtual session on old growth on Thursday, April 13th from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm. Hosted by UBCM, in cooperation with the Province, the session will focus on the Province’s approach to implementing the Old Growth Strategic Review recommendations. Local government participants will have an opportunity to share their feedback on both the process and its impacts on communities.

In its 2022 Budget, the Federal Government announced a $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund to provide incentive funding to local governments to encourage initiatives that lead to new housing supply. New details have been made available on the design of the program in Local governments, First Nations, Métis and Inuit governments who have delegated authority over land use planning and development approvals are eligible to apply via the application portal opening later in 2023.  

On November 21-22, 2022, the national RCMP Contract Management Committee (CMC) met to discuss issues related to the Police Services Agreements and policing more broadly in Canada. Relevant items were subsequently discussed by the B.C. Local Government RCMP Contract Management Committee (LGCMC), and are summarized in this article.