Thanks to a provincial grant, the City of Castlegar will hire a housing ambassador to help homeowners create accessory dwelling units or secondary suites.
Castlegar is receiving $90,000 from the Local Government Development Approvals Program, which is administered through the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM). The program "was created to help local governments implement best practices and develop innovative ways to support non-profit housing organizations, developers and other stakeholders to speed up the delivery of homes," according to a release.
The city plans to use the funding to support an additional building official.
"The city's application specifically was in alignment with our 2021 Housing Strategy and in readiness for the city's new community plan and zoning bylaw being adopted," explains Meeri Durand, manager of planning, development and sustainability for the City of Castlegar.
The new hire will specifically focus on increasing in-fill housing in Castlegar by assisting homeowners in navigating the process of building secondary suites, such as basement suites, or accessory dwelling units, such as laneway houses.
"They will act kind of as a one-stop shop in terms of 'How do I approach this?' 'What funding is available to help support these conversions?' and also just giving them advice on the B.C. Building Code," says Durand.
This will specifically help the city address the need for more zero- to two-bedroom units that was identified in the 2023 Castegar Housing Needs Assessment, which also showed a gap between need and supply for rental housing.
The city's application also originally included a proposal for a secondary suite registry, but as the goal of the Local Government Development Approvals Program is to create new housing, that part of the project didn't qualify for funding.
Nonetheless, Durand says the city will still pursue development of the registry.
"Part of that will be development of a policy to provide a pathway to homeowners that have existing suites that may not have been issued building permits in the past."
The position has already been publicly posted.