B.C. NDP Leader David Eby smiles while delivering a campaign sign to a supporter of local candidate Kelli Paddon, in Chilliwack, B.C., on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
CUMBERLAND, B.C. – British Columbia NDP Leader David Eby says his government would fast-track factory-built homes as part of its strategy to ease the province’s housing crisis.
At an election campaign stop on Vancouver Island, Eby said pre-built homes cut waste, reduce emissions, and advances in the industry mean the homes are “beautiful and high-quality.”
He said the process was “more like Lego” than normal construction.
“The idea is pretty straightforward. In a controlled factory environment, you can build faster, you can build with less waste and the homes that are built are more consistent and more efficient and it’s cheaper.”
A statement issued by the NDP on Friday said its government would work with the industry, municipalities and First Nations to create a provincewide framework so builders know what’s required in every community.
It said there would be a pre-approved set of designs to reduce the permitting process, and it would work with the industry to develop skills training needed to support prefabricated home construction.
The statement said Scandinavian countries had embraced factory-built homes, which “offer an alternative to the much slower, more costly process of building on-site.”
“By growing B.C.’s own factory-built home construction industry, everyone from multi-generational families to municipalities will be able to quickly build single homes, duplexes and triplexes on land they already own,” Eby said.
The party said legislation passed by the NDP government last year was a “game changer” for the factory-built home construction industry in the province, where there are currently 10 certified manufacturing plants.
Muchalat Construction Ltd. is one of them. Owner Tania Formosa said pre-approved structures speed up the building process considerably.
She said her company’s projects currently take 12 to 13 months to complete, from startup design to getting the house on site.
“If everything was in place and fast-tracked at the beginning and we were able to just fly along, it would probably take three months off the full schedule,” she said.
She said a main issue for modular manufacturers is that work gets stalled if they run into roadblocks with jurisdictions or BC Housing in the approval process.
“There’s no option for the manufacturer to start another project,” she said. “Having our products approved prior to the process would be amazing.”
She acknowledged the potential drawback of pre-approved designs creating a cookie-cutter look for some neighbourhoods.
“Unfortunately (what) happens in your jurisdiction, in your city, is it ends up looking a lot the same, but what are your priorities?”
Eby and his rivals, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad and Green Leader Sonia Furstenau, have all been rallying for support as the first week of the provincial election campaign draws to a close.
Rustad held a rally in Prince George Thursday night and was scheduled to make an announcement in Surrey on Friday.
Furstenau was in southeastern B.C. on Thursday to unveil mental health policies under a Green government. She stayed for a rally with Kootenay-Central candidate Nicole Charlwood in Creston.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.
