Bill 16: Amendments to the Transportation Act
Changes to the BC Transportation Act may affect many transit-oriented developments.
In BC, housing affordability has remained a critical problem for decades. Records indicate that market rents, home sale prices and mortgage interest rates in Metro Vancouver have steadily increased for more than twenty years, with market rents increasing by 97 percent from 2002 to 2021, and home sale prices increasing by 292 percent between 2005 and 2022 (MVRD, 2022). As energy, food and mortgage interest costs continue to increase throughout BC, it is unsurprising that additional legislative changes are being developed to address housing affordability (Peacock, 2023).
In recognition that transportation costs are commonly the highest cost among households other than housing, the provincial government adopted Bill 16 in 2022. Bill 16 amended the Transportation Act to further support the provincial government’s acquisition of land within 800 meters of major transit hubs, such as SkyTrain stations and bus exchanges for the purpose of building housing and community amenities (“Transit-Oriented Development”) (Price, 2023). The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (“MOTI”) is shifting towards an integrated approach that involves acquiring and maintaining their existing land holdings to support Transit-Oriented Development opportunities (Price, 2023).
In a recent conference, Shannon Price, Manager of Strategic Real Estate, MOTI, went further to indicate that the provincial government intends to redevelop park and rides, and other provincially-owned properties into housing and master planned communities (Price, 2023). With 20 park and ride locations throughout Metro Vancouver and the prospect of the provincial government acquiring further land via Bill 16, the prospects for future Transit-Oriented Developments and further action towards housing affordability are encouraging. In order to facilitate these projects, Shannon Price also shared that the provincial government intends to partner with private-sector developers (Price, 2023).
Consequently, it is anticipated that there will be an increase in opportunities for private-public partnerships in support of the creation of Transit-Oriented Developments as strategic land acquisitions continue. Pacific Land Group is pleased to provide land use and development services for many Transit-Oriented Development projects throughout Metro Vancouver, and assist land-owners in understanding how their properties may be affected by Bill 16 acquisitions.
References
BC Expropriation Association. (2023). 2023 BC Expropriation Association Annual Fall Conference. BC Expropriation Association. https://www.bcexpropriationassociation.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-Final-BCEA-Brochure.pdf
Government of BC (2018). Defining affordable housing. Government of BC. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/affordable-and-social-housing/afffordable-housing/defining-affordable-housing
Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD). (2022). Metro Vancouver housing data book. Metro Vancouver. https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-planning/Documents/metro-vancouver-housing-data-book-2022.pdf
Peacock, K. (2023). Economic Outlook: Slower growth in the near term and uncertain medium-term prospects. 2023 BC Expropriation Association Annual Fall Conference. https://www.bcexpropriationassociation.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-Final-BCEA-Brochure.pdf
Price, S. (2023). If you build it, they will come. 2023 BC Expropriation Association Annual Fall Conference. https://www.bcexpropriationassociation.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-Final-BCEA-Brochure.pdf