affordable housing

Parksville Mayor Doug O’Brien speaks at a press conference announcing the opening of 87 affordable housing units at 364 Moilliet St. (Kevin Forsyth photo)
Parksville Mayor Doug O’Brien speaks at a press conference announcing the opening of 87 affordable housing units at 364 Moilliet St. (Kevin Forsyth photo)
The Attainable Housing Development Society works with local communities an organizations to fill the housing gap in British Columbia. This summer, they’re hosting their New Home Raffle – giving you the chance to win an amazing home overlooking beautiful Shuswap Lake. Photos courtesy AHDS

Lake life awaits with New Home Raffle

Enter to win a Shuswap Lake home, and help bring attainable housing to others

  • Jul 10, 2023
The Attainable Housing Development Society works with local communities an organizations to fill the housing gap in British Columbia. This summer, they’re hosting their New Home Raffle – giving you the chance to win an amazing home overlooking beautiful Shuswap Lake. Photos courtesy AHDS
Construction is underway on a new affordable housing development at 600 Beach Rd. in Qualicum Beach. From left: Mayor Teunis Westbroek, Ravi Kahlon, minister of housing, Scott Rodway, president of Qualicum Parksville Kiwanis Housing Society and Adam Walker, MLA for Parksville Qualicum. (Kevin Forsyth photo)

Construction underway on 56 affordable housing units in Qualicum Beach

Seventy per cent of the units will have rent geared to income

Construction is underway on a new affordable housing development at 600 Beach Rd. in Qualicum Beach. From left: Mayor Teunis Westbroek, Ravi Kahlon, minister of housing, Scott Rodway, president of Qualicum Parksville Kiwanis Housing Society and Adam Walker, MLA for Parksville Qualicum. (Kevin Forsyth photo)
A rendering of Abstract Development’s three-storey, 25-unit residential project near Swan Lake that was approved by Saanich council earlier in 2023. (Courtesy Abstract Developments)

Saanich putting developments ‘through the wringer’ only adds to crisis: expert

Housing expert says cities need to speed up approval process

  • Jun 23, 2023
A rendering of Abstract Development’s three-storey, 25-unit residential project near Swan Lake that was approved by Saanich council earlier in 2023. (Courtesy Abstract Developments)
WeCan Shelter Society co-founder Charlene Davis came up with the idea a few years ago to repurpose sea containers into houses for the unhoused population of the Comox Valley. (Olivier Laurin / Comox Valley Record)

VIDEO: Comox Valley non-profit builds shelters out of sea containers for the unhoused

‘We intend to carry on until we have a reason to not’: WeCan Shelter Society chairperson Charlene Davis

WeCan Shelter Society co-founder Charlene Davis came up with the idea a few years ago to repurpose sea containers into houses for the unhoused population of the Comox Valley. (Olivier Laurin / Comox Valley Record)
A Victoria condo on Blanshard with no bedrooms is renting for $2,800 a month. (Contributed photo/Craisgslist)

Tiny Victoria rentals with zero bedrooms demanding $2.8K, says ‘couch surfer’

Victoria renter forced to go from couch to couch due to soaring rental prices

A Victoria condo on Blanshard with no bedrooms is renting for $2,800 a month. (Contributed photo/Craisgslist)
Treska Watson, the director of operations at the Mustard Seed Street Church stands in front of a truck used to move donations from the location in Esquimalt after a fire on March 27 caused damage to the inside of the location in Victoria on Queens Avenue. (Hollie Ferguson/News Staff)

Soaring inflation, influx of student clients hit Victoria food bank

Mustard Seed resources being strained

  • Jun 12, 2023
Treska Watson, the director of operations at the Mustard Seed Street Church stands in front of a truck used to move donations from the location in Esquimalt after a fire on March 27 caused damage to the inside of the location in Victoria on Queens Avenue. (Hollie Ferguson/News Staff)
Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock outside two 11-unit purpose-built rental buildings on Richmond Road near Royal Jubilee Hospital. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

Saanich endorses zone allowing small apartment buildings on single-family lots

Staff report indicates district needs more than 1,200 new bachelor, one-bedroom units by 2025

Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock outside two 11-unit purpose-built rental buildings on Richmond Road near Royal Jubilee Hospital. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
John Horn, executive director of Connective, shows Lisa Marie Barron, Nanaimo-Ladysmith MP, a newly opened seniors independent living building on Labieux Road near Diver Lake on April 13. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)

Federal NDP calling for funding for non-profits to be able to buy and rent out apartments

New Democrats want federal government to ‘get back into housing’

John Horn, executive director of Connective, shows Lisa Marie Barron, Nanaimo-Ladysmith MP, a newly opened seniors independent living building on Labieux Road near Diver Lake on April 13. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)
Philip and Sonja Hathaway say they will camp in front of the B.C. legislature until they receive some news of when they will get their newborn daughter back. (Hollie Ferguson/News Staff)

Couple camps at B.C. legislature to protest apprehension of newborn at Victoria hospital

Philip and Sonja Hathaway say their rights and the rights of their new daughter have been violated

Philip and Sonja Hathaway say they will camp in front of the B.C. legislature until they receive some news of when they will get their newborn daughter back. (Hollie Ferguson/News Staff)
Kinetic Construction is receiving a Recruiting and Hiring Champion Builders Code Award. (Courtesy Builders Code)

Greater Victoria’s construction industry honoured with awards

April is the BC Construction Association’s sixth annual construction and skilled trades month

  • Apr 16, 2023
Kinetic Construction is receiving a Recruiting and Hiring Champion Builders Code Award. (Courtesy Builders Code)
Victoria MP Laurel Collins (left) and New Democratic party housing critic Jenny Kwan (right) speak at a press conference Thursday (April 13) at Fernwood Square. (Brendan Mayer/News Staff)

B.C. MPs demand feds stop corporate landlords in Victoria who ‘swoop in’ to push out tenants

B.C. MPs are pushing for the feds to stop corporate landlords from profiteering on housing

Victoria MP Laurel Collins (left) and New Democratic party housing critic Jenny Kwan (right) speak at a press conference Thursday (April 13) at Fernwood Square. (Brendan Mayer/News Staff)
A new supportive housing project on Albina Street has just opened. (Screenshot courtesy of Grant McKenzie)
A new supportive housing project on Albina Street has just opened. (Screenshot courtesy of Grant McKenzie)
A Greater Victoria renter wants to risk a fire in order to stay in a below-market rental. (Black Press Media file photo)

Opinion: Victoria renter would rather live in a deadly fire trap than get evicted

A local tenant is facing eviction due to fire code violations but wants to stay

A Greater Victoria renter wants to risk a fire in order to stay in a below-market rental. (Black Press Media file photo)
A Victoria tenant says her landlord plied her with liquor to get her to sign an eviction notice. (Pexels photo)

Opinion: ’Greedy’ Victoria landlord got concussed tenant drunk to get her to sign eviction

With rent hikes capped, some landlords are trying to get rid of tenants

A Victoria tenant says her landlord plied her with liquor to get her to sign an eviction notice. (Pexels photo)
A new national report on residential rentals says one-bedroom rental prices skyrocketed far above the B.C. cap on prices. (Pexels photo)

B.C. rent hikes capped at 2% but Victoria’s skyrocketed by 19%, says new report

Victoria resident says landlords are finding ways to evict tenants to raise rents

A new national report on residential rentals says one-bedroom rental prices skyrocketed far above the B.C. cap on prices. (Pexels photo)
Young people are struggling to afford housing. (Black Press file photo)
Young people are struggling to afford housing. (Black Press file photo)
Students on UVic campus in Victoria. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

‘Desperate’ Victoria students raiding dumpsters, using food banks and bartering for meals

Students at the University of Victoria are experiencing a hike in food insecurity, with little help

Students on UVic campus in Victoria. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
According to some Victoria renters, things are especially bad for a certain type of tenant looking for housing - single moms. (Pexels photo)

CAMPBELL: ‘Lepers’: Dirty Victoria landlords refuse to rent to single moms to avoid ‘drama’

One single mom had a friend pretend he was her husband to secure a rental unit

According to some Victoria renters, things are especially bad for a certain type of tenant looking for housing - single moms. (Pexels photo)
A condo project is shown in Langford, B.C., on October 22, 2021. The federal government has set aside billions of dollars to quickly build affordable housing across the country, but delays in construction suggest many of the projects approved for funding are missing their deadlines. The Rapid Housing Initiative is a federal program launched in 2020 that provides funding to cities and non-profit organizations to build affordable homes for vulnerable Canadians, including people experiencing homelessness. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Majority of affordable homes approved under federal program not yet constructed

Just 1,449 units have been completed, according to November document

A condo project is shown in Langford, B.C., on October 22, 2021. The federal government has set aside billions of dollars to quickly build affordable housing across the country, but delays in construction suggest many of the projects approved for funding are missing their deadlines. The Rapid Housing Initiative is a federal program launched in 2020 that provides funding to cities and non-profit organizations to build affordable homes for vulnerable Canadians, including people experiencing homelessness. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito