A North Shore organization is gearing up for a panel about new affordable housing next week.
The North Shore Community Housing Action Committee, part of the non-profit North Shore Community Resources organization, is holding a panel with industry experts to share insights on the current and future housing landscape while also hearing from the community.
Committee chair and housing advocate Jacob Isaac said the panel idea stemmed from the province’s recent plans asking municipalities to make changes to their Official Community Plan’s to address housing needs, but also for the committee to bring awareness about the new housing regulations and provide a forum for people’s voices to be heard.
“This event is designed to engage North Shore residents and community groups who are often excluded from traditional housing discussions,” Isaac said. “It’s kind of a two-fold purpose, to inform and listen.”
Experts from Hollyburn Community Services Society, the Housing Research Collaborative and BC Non-Profit Housing Association will focus on questions facing the region, Isaac said, including how we can make housing growth equitable, what policy tools deliver affordable housing and how local communities can shape solutions that reflect their needs.
A community member will also speak at the panel, sharing their lived experience navigating the non-market housing system.
The event will close with attendees taking part in small-group discussions that will help inform local municipal planners to determine the types and allocations of newly mandated housing, Isaac said.
Isaac said he hopes the panel will make conversations around housing more accessible.
“I think this panel will really lend itself well to informing people who might not be familiar with housing planning, how these systems work, while also maybe pushing the needle a little bit to towards non-market and supportive housing that typically gets lost in these supply side affordability discussions,” he said.
Mark Friesen, executive director of Hollyburn Community Services Society, said he will be highlighting the different types of affordable housing out there, something not everyone knows.
“For our work achieving our mission and purpose, it’s really important that there’s a range and a whole spectrum of housing on the North Shore, and that includes everything from emergency shelters, deep subsidy, affordable housing, low end of market and below marketing housing,” Friesen said.
Hollyburn Community Services Society is a non-profit that provides resources for youth, seniors and families experiencing social vulnerabilities. Among the various programs they offer, the non-profit provides support for youth and seniors experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness.
Earlier this year, the non-profit also began offering affordable community housing on the North Shore residents and surrounding areas in Metro Vancouver.
Some of these projects include a four-storey affordable rental building on West Queens Road in North Vancouver and 20 below-market rate units at a building in Coquitlam opening this summer.
With the increase Hollyburn is seeing with housing, Friesen also hopes people will take away an openness to different kinds of housing.
“Understand that affordable housing is a whole variety of different housing types, and by working together, communities across the North Shore can have a constructive conversation around types of development that will ensure complete, healthy, sustainable communities for the long term,” he said.
Housing is Coming: Embracing Density, Complete Communities panel
When: Thursday, June 5 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Where: The Great Hall at Kiwanis Cypress (999 21st Street, West Vancouver)
Cost: Free. Register online here.
Abby Luciano is the Indigenous and civic affairs reporter for the North Shore News. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
https://bsky.app/profile/abbyluciano.bsky.social
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