IN THE NEWS: ICBA's Chris Gardner on Housing Affordability

The following is an excerpt from this story in the Oct. 12, 2022, Journal of Commerce.

Independent Contractors and Businesses Association president Chris Gardner echoed concerns about housing affordability and laid the blame squarely on an overly complicated and bureaucratic permitting process.

“Housing markets haven’t been affordable since 2003, which is two decades ago,” Gardner said.

“It’s a generalization, some municipalities are better than others, but amongst our membership Vancouver is seen as the worst. It’s very difficult to do business in Vancouver.”

Gardner also said Vancouver’s possible adoption of a road tax “might sound good in dealing with traffic and greenhouse gases but it will be another cost on the price of construction.”

“Every delivery, tradesperson and every time material is dropped off at site, that will add to project costs. No one is connecting dots and it’s very frustrating. There’s an enormous amount of frustration at the time it takes to get anything done,” he said.

Gardner also said the way to answer the affordability crisis comes down to greater housing supply.

“The number of houses put into the marketplace is not keeping up with demand,” Gardner said. “Government is trying to dampen demand and it’s exactly the wrong solution. By increasing supply, you lower the cost of housing.”