About
For the past three decades, the Southern Gulf Islands (SGIs), including Salt Spring, have been embroiled in an ever-worsening housing crisis. More than half of renters endure housing costs greater than 50 percent of their incomes, the workforce necessary to support the tourism-reliant local economy lacks anywhere to live, and more than half of property owners are part-time islanders.
To remediate this situation, the Southern Gulf Islands Tourism Partnership Society (SGITPS) joined forces with the Galiano Affordable Living Initiative (GALI) Society, the Gulf Islands Galisle Affordable Renting Housing Society (GIGARHS), and the Mayne Island Housing Society (MIHS) to form the SGI Housing Coalition last August.
In August 2021, the Consortium proposed the creation of an SGI Housing Navigator and a set of pre-development tools for housing projects to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) Housing Supply Challenge (HSC). CMHC shortlisted the proposal and granted $75,000 seed funding for the group to refine their ideas by engaging other key stakeholders. The Housing Coalition is now led by non-profit housing groups from each island, including Salt Spring, Pender, Galiano, and Mayne.
The proposed “Entity” (we’re still working on what this would look like) would fill the gap in service between the Islands Trust and the Capital Regional District by dedicating local support to non-profit housing developers. The new Entity would act at the intersection of local housing need, regional collaboration, housing strategies, and Island Trust’s mandate to regulate land use and preserve and protect the unique ecosystems of the Gulf Islands. The Entity would do this by guiding and supporting local non-profit housing societies through the complex pre-development process, engaging First Nations, increasing communication among housing providers, and working with Islands Trust, the Capital Regional District, Capital Region Housing Corporation planners, BC Housing, BC Non-Profit Housing Assocation, and other supporting and approving agencies.
The CMHC incubation funding awarded to the SGI Housing Coalitions has allowed them to engage professional planners to assist the Tourism Partnership to draft a detailed proposal to CMHC’s Housing Supply Challenge for funding to kick-start a local solution to the challenge of getting new housing approved in the five communities.
The Tourism Partnership is leading the professional Project Team that includes the Southern Gulf Islands Community Resource Centre and CitySpaces Consulting with support from Wiser Projects and Salt Spring’s Village Builders. An SGI Housing Advisory Group, comprised of housing non-profit volunteers from each island, meets regularly to guide the project on behalf of the larger SGI Housing Coalition.
During the incubation period, CitySpaces has conducted interviews with Islands Trust, the Capital Regional District, the Capital Region Housing Corporation, Rural Islands Economic Partnership, BC Housing, the BC Non-Profit Housing Association, the two Community Economic Sustainability Commissions, and First Nations. These interactions, as well as a background review and case study research will inform the solution prototype. The final proposal will be submitted to CMHC in mid-June.