When the Vancouver Sun asked another construction association leader about the state of the sector last week, he said he wasn't “too concerned” – because the industry goes through “dips” from time to time.
That’s not what our Chief Economist Jock Finlayson actually sees in the data.
Jock is now asking out loud whether B.C. is already in a recession. Home construction is already in a recession with sales down nearly 9% year-over-year, following an 8% drop in January. ICBA is projecting housing starts of 30,000–34,000 this year and next. The government is forecasting that starts will be flat this year at 44,210 and the same next year. That’s hard to understand and doesn’t align with what is happening in residential construction right now – projects postponed and layoffs. Just two years ago, our members were scrambling to find workers. Today, they're scrambling to find work.
Many of you are already thinking about 2027 and have told us this isn’t just a “dip.” It’s contractors struggling to keep the lights on, find work and meet payroll, skilled workers whose livelihoods are disrupted, and whose families are thrown into turmoil after being laid off.
B.C.’s Housing Minister, meanwhile, shrugged her way through legislature estimates, redirecting every question about housing construction to the Ministry of Finance – a ministry that built a housing forecast without consulting the people who actually build housing.
It’s all caught up to us: Years of government adding complexity and cost to building codes; viewing housing as a cash cow by layering on fees and taxes; accepting painfully slow project approval and permitting timelines; and demonizing builders.
This is not just a “dip” to be casually dismissed. Misguided government policies are holding back B.C.’s economy and have done a great deal of damage to the housing market.
At ICBA, we believe that government needs to hear clearly and consistently what these challenges are and what needs to be done to build more, build faster, and build affordably.
That’s why when the NDP budget expanded the PST to a wide range of construction services, increased taxes on everyone in B.C., delayed the expansion of the Burnaby Hospital and pulled $1.4BN out of the housing budget, ICBA said the budget was disastrous for construction.
Builders deserve better. The men and women going to a job site every day to build everything around us, deserve better. And the young people starting their exciting journey in the trades deserve better.
– Chris Gardner, ICBA President and CEO
WorkSafeBC is a mess – and employers are going to pay the price. We sounded the alarm with a Business in Vancouver op-ed exposing how the NDP has squandered the system's once-healthy surplus through mission creep and political meddling – burning through roughly $8 billion more than planned and leaving employers one bad investment cycle away from a massive premium hike.
Then a whistleblower came forward: WorkSafeBC has quietly shut down its entire Field Investigations Division – 20 specially trained fraud investigators – declaring fraud investigation no longer aligned with the organization’s “strategic priorities.” We broke that story in a second piece, WorkSafeBC Just Killed Its Fraud Investigation Unit. Guess Who Pays?, and appeared on Global BC to call for the decision to be reversed.
B.C. is now the only province in Canada where no one is actively investigating workers' compensation fraud.
So what’s really going on?
It’s pretty simple. The NDP Government has skewed WorkSafeBC against the very people who pay for it. The latest example: appointing Laird Cronk, the former head of the BC Federation of Labour and a longtime NDP ally, as Board Chair. We'll keep pushing back – but the NDP has made it clear that WorkSafe now exists to punish employers not insure workers.
In other WorkSafeBC news, effective April 1, Part 8 of the OHS Regulation updates respiratory protection standards, replacing older CSA Z94.4 references with the current CAN/CSA Z94.4-18 standard. This matters for construction workers relying on respirators to protect against silica dust, asbestos, fumes, and other on-site hazards. For details, see WorkSafeBC’s decision document.
One of the great parts of being an ICBA member is knowing you don't have to fight for your projects alone. We're proud to stand alongside our members at the municipal level, and our new Letter of Support tool makes it easier than ever – just upload a few details of your application, and within two business days, ICBA will send you a customized letter on your behalf, signed by President & CEO Chris Gardner. Review it, approve it, and we’ll submit it directly to the relevant council.
It's advocacy in action, and it’s one more way ICBA is working to get homes and projects built faster across B.C. Visit icba.ca/icba-supports-your-application to submit your application today (NOTE: you’ll need a Claude AI account, but those are free).
B.C.’s construction and business community isn't alone in its concerns about private property rights – a new ICBA poll found that 78% of British Columbians believe the B.C. Supreme Court’s Cowichan decision will hurt the province’s economy by undermining property rights certainty, with opposition cutting across every region and every political party. Fully 80% say governments must protect private property, and 73% believe private property ownership in B.C. is now uncertain — including 58% of NDP core voters.
These numbers send a clear message to Premier Eby: British Columbians want action, not ambiguity. Read our full news release and the complete poll results.
Over at ICBA Economics, Jock continues to analyze data for our construction and resource members, including these pieces:
ICBA continues our work on these and other advocacy files on behalf of our members – if there’s a public policy or red tape issue your company is facing municipally, provincially, or federally, that you could use some help with, reach out to us at jordan@icba.ca.