Barriers and solutions to building more housing on public land
Read the reportLand Use and Governance in British Columbia is a comprehensive review of the laws, policies, and systems that govern how land is used across the province. The report lays the groundwork for meaningful policy and legal reform — reform that could dramatically improve outcomes for the British Columbians most affected by the housing crisis.
With nearly 95% of BC’s land publicly owned, the opportunity to leverage these lands for housing is substantial. Yet the systems to do so remain largely absent.
Key Findings
The report identifies critical gaps in how public land is currently managed and prioritized:
- No existing mechanism mandates, or even encourages, any government or agency to prioritize housing development on public land.
- No centralized database exists to track or coordinate information about public land holdings.
- Despite BC’s significant investments in housing programs like Homes for BC and BC Builds, there are no proactive systems in place to identify public parcels suitable for housing delivery.
Recommendations
A series of low- or zero-cost policy changes could unlock a major increase in non-profit, affordable, and supportive housing on government-owned land. The report puts forward six practical recommendations:
- Mandate and maintain a public, integrated land inventory
- Establish a centralized land coordination body — distinct from BC Assessment — to proactively identify, assemble, and allocate public lands across jurisdictions
- Create a provincial public land framework with binding affordability mandates
- Unlock surplus institutional and federal lands through discounted long-term leases and pre-development support
- Embed affordability and equity in land dispositions to ensure marginalized groups benefit through inclusive, accessible housing design
- Strengthen intergovernmental and community partnerships to align land, funding, and governance for long-term, community-led housing delivery
