Staff Report: Complete Communities Grant

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The purpose of this report is to obtain Council support for a joint grant application between the City of Colwood (as primary applicant), City of Victoria, District of Saanich, District of Oak Bay, Township of Esquimalt, and City of Langford (supporting partners) and the Community Social Planning Council.

The grant falls under the “Complete Communities Program” administered through the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) on behalf of the Province. The goal of the program is to provide a diversity of housing to meet identified community needs and accommodate people at all stages of life, and to provide a wider range of employment opportunities, amenities, and services within a 15–20-minute walk radius.

As part of this application, the funds have been earmarked to support the existing Regional Household Affordability Project (RHAP), which is a regional (CRD) collaboration focused on helping partner municipalities address the issue of housing affordability through policy research and data analysis, capacity building, engagement, and dialogue.

BACKGROUND:

The Regional Household Affordability Project (RHAP) began with Colwood hosting a regional roundtable group on household prosperity with Victoria and Saanich participating in the first year. The project expanded in the second year to include Langford, Esquimalt, and Oak Bay. RHAP has also engaged with staff and councils from other municipalities across the CRD.

To date, the project has delivered several learning sessions for council members, public webinars on affordable housing and household prosperity, created a staff “community of practice”, and piloted an affordable housing toolkit on best practices and resources available to municipal governments.

Initially, RHAP was funded through the UBCM Poverty Reduction Grant stream in Phase one (July 2022 - June 2023) and Phase two (July 2023 to June 2024). While this stream will not be available for a third round of funding, UBCM has suggested their Complete Communities Grant as an appropriate funding stream for continuing the RHAP work (RHAP Phase 3).

Completed Activities from RHAP’s First Phase

(Project timeline: July 2022 to July 2023)

• Regular Community of Practice meetings with municipal staff
• Councillor Learning Sessions
• Piloting of BC Housing Affordability Toolkit and publication of Federal Housing Affordability Toolkit
• Creation of the Drivers of Homelessness Report – focused on experiences of regional homelessness and challenges related to housing using local data
• Filling the Gaps Reports – Assessment using UBC’s Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) methodology to highlight key areas of municipal housing needs
• Educational Webinar series

RHAP Phase Two Activities

(Project timeline: July 2023 to July 2024)

• Ongoing Community of Practice meetings and Councillor Learning Sessions
• Regional Tenant Assistance Policy – feasibility study and report
• Housing Needs Assessment data and dashboard – using the UBC HART method for key areas of housing needs at the regional level
• Producing briefs and best practices reports – focused on evidence and solutions related to regional housing affordability
• BC Toolkit – updating the toolkit piloted in the first phase of the project, to include new provincial legislation and key initiatives

COMMENTARY:

The Complete Communities Program, administered by the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) on behalf of the Province, supports local governments in assessing their strengths, opportunities, and challenges with respect to housing, and helps to identify actions to increase their ‘completeness’, with respect to housing, transportation, and/or infrastructure. The RHAP project application will focus on housing equity and affordability, with consideration for daily needs and transportation as they relate to housing affordability, household prosperity and community completeness.

What is a ‘complete community’?

A complete community provides a diversity of housing to meet identified community needs and accommodate people at all stages of life, and provide a wider range of employment opportunities, amenities, and services within a 15-20-minute walk radius. Complete communities can be more efficient to service with infrastructure and have the potential to reduce community greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with transportation. This definition of complete communities is intended to operate as an overall goal, recognizing that complete communities may look different across regions.1

1 Complete communities - Province of British Columbia (gov.bc.ca)

Collaborative Funding Applications for Regional Projects

This collaborative regional funding application will be led by the City of Colwood (primary applicant). As a regional project, base funding available would be $150,000 (included with the first applicant), plus up to an additional $50,000 for additional eligible applicants (Municipal partners). It is expected that regional projects will demonstrate cost-efficiencies to be eligible for the maximum grant request.

Project Partners for RHAP Phase 3 include:

• Colwood (Host and Lead City)
• Victoria (Municipal Partner)
• Saanich (Municipal Partner)
• Oak Bay (Municipal Partner)
• Esquimalt (Municipal Partner)
• Langford (Municipal Partner)

Regional Household Affordability and Prosperity Project (RHAP) - Phase 3

The RHAP project has improved communication and collaboration on housing policy between staff in participating municipalities and among elected officials across the region. The result is a more cohesive and concerted regional effort to tackle the pervasive issues of affordability and housing that transcends municipal boundaries.

In Phase three of the project (under the Complete Communities grant), the critical work will continue, supporting capacity and collaboration on affordable housing policy across the region through the Community of Practice, workshops with municipal leadership, data collection and analysis support (where needed), an equity analysis and assessment, and support to municipal level priorities as they relate to housing, affordability, and community needs.

Eligible Categories of Activities (as identified by the Complete Communities Program)

The Complete Communities Program identifies three categories of activities that are eligible for funding: Prepare, Assess, and Act. Examples of each are outlined below.

• PREPARE - Prepare municipalities to use and share spatial data resources and review of community context and identified community goals that support complete communities: identification of priority data sets, review of data already being collected and used by municipal partners, gaps analysis and harmonization; conduct an equity assessment of data available and gaps; engagement to identify and understand priorities, municipally and regionally; fill priority data gaps;

• ASSESS - Assessment of strengths, opportunities, and challenges for housing affordability and community completeness; Spatial analysis of selected lenses; engagement on municipal level data profiles and community priorities; creation of scenarios to test potential actions for municipal priorities (customized to municipal priorities and needs), analysis of potential trade-offs for different potential actions and of how these actions may help achieve community goals; and

• ACT - Recommendations on amendment or updating of municipal housing policies or plans that stem from the assessment, through creation of a menu of recommendations and draft tools that municipalities can choose from, dependent on local needs and capacity to implement. Individual municipalities can propose changes and update plans that support complete communities, using current, updated, and shared regional data; share outcomes and best practices.

The City of Colwood would manage the implementation of the project, with support from the Community Social Planning Council, including hiring consultants, convening partners, meeting management, community engagement and other related activities.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:

There are no direct costs to the City for undertaking this work, apart from staff time to write this report and oversee communication with our partners.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

OPTIONS:

Option 1

THAT Council support the Regional Household Affordability and Prosperity Project (RHAP) in applying for grant funding through the UBCM Complete Communities Grant to allow for the continuation of the work achieved in Phases 1 and 2, in collaboration with partnering municipalities;

AND

THAT Council endorses the City of Colwood to be the primary applicant that will provide overall grant management for the project along with the Community Social Planning Council leading the project as the Community Lead in a consulting relationship.

OR Option 2

THAT Council do nothing at this time with respect to the RHAP grant application.

SUBMITTED BY:

David Sametz, MCIP, RPP, Senior Planner – Long Range Planning

Concurrence:
Leah Stohmann, MCIP, RPP, Deputy Director of Planning and Subdivision
Concurrence:
Donna Petrie, Senior Manager of Communications & Economic Development
Concurrence:
Yari Nielsen, Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities
Concurrence:
Matthew Baldwin, MCIP, RPP, Director of Planning and Subdivision
Concurrence:
Katelyn Balzer, P.Eng., Director of Engineering and Public Works
Concurrence:
Michael Dillabaugh, CPA, CA, Director of Finance
Concurrence:
Marie Watmough, Deputy Director of Corporate Services
Concurrence: Braden Hutchins, Director of Corporate Services
Concurrence:
Darren Kiedyk, Chief Administrative Officer