Workforce capacity crucial in housing

Re: “We need to build more homes to meet demand,” letter, Feb. 16.

I want to respond to two things:

First, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s June report on restoring affordability by 2030 was the most official goalpost and timeline for outpacing demand with supply. B.C. needed 570,000 more homes than the current rate.

The five-year annual average of housing completions is around 38,000. If we take the high year of nearly 42,000 in 2021, it would take 13.5 years to build just the 570,000 with the current workforce deficit.

I sent this to CMHC in July and their deputy chief economist responded that they share my concerns and will work next on feasibility.

Second, housing starts is the industry standard, yet as a measure it is best for how fast we are approving new supply. All processes can get long in the tooth and should rightly be subject to continual improvement.

For measuring progress on the housing crisis, completions make more sense: actual homes actually able to be lived in. It’s also a reflection of workforce capacity, and if that’s in a crisis deficit with low prospect for improvement, that matters.

That’s why I said in the same sentence that CMHC admitted in October that their timeline and goalpost was not feasible.

If anything, this gives partners and stakeholders an opportunity to creatively think how we grow our cities. Sacrificing soil for shoeboxes in the name of supply may just cost us food security without solving anything.

Good problem-solving should abhor such opportunity costs in the interest of long-term stability.

Mark McInnes Victoria