NDP MLA George Anderson is backing off his private member’s bill aimed at speeding up housing approvals after backlash from municipalities and industry groups.
Bill M216, or the Professional Reliance Act, passed second reading last fall and had been making its way through the committee stage.
The stated goal of the bill is to reduce delays caused by municipalities reviewing technical studies for development applications.
The bill would limit a local government’s ability to get a second opinion on a technical report or submission from a qualified professional hired by the developer, like an engineer or geoscientist. If they disagree with the conclusion, they would need to send the dispute to a provincial superintendent for resolution.
The Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) and other groups called for the bill to be scrapped.
UBCM President Cori Ramsay and Vice-President Jenna Stoner visited the legislature last week to address the committee reviewing the bill.
Ramsay said the bill is “fundamentally flawed” and raises significant public safety and liability concerns. She said it also risks slowing down development approvals by creating bottlenecks through a centralized dispute process.
“This bill was developed in a vacuum without input from local governments or the organizations responsible for the certified professionals,” Ramsay told reporters at the legislature on April 1.
“Local review of technical building documents is not a bureaucratic duplication of work,” she said. “It is part of a collaborative process to ensure that buildings are safe, legal and adapted for local geographical risks.”
She said local peer review often catches errors, citing an instance where a submission for a six-storey residential building was missing fire hydrants, and another where a plan for a parking garage had no ventilation for car exhaust.
Industry groups have also submitted their concerns about bill M216 to the province. The Planning Institute of British Columbia said in a letter to Premier David Eby in November that the bill was unnecessarily broad and likely to cause uncertainty and delays to new housing development.
Anderson sent a letter to the committee on Thursday asking that they halt consideration of his bill, saying the Housing Ministry has committed to further work on the bill’s “core policy principles.”
“The Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs has committed to working with stakeholders to explore ways to build on the principles of safety, speed and professional responsibility while balancing the needs of local governments and regulated professionals,” said the Nanaimo-Lantzville MLA.
Housing Minister Christine Boyle issued a statement thanking Anderson for his work on the bill.
“In recognition of the local governments, organizations and individuals that took countless hours to provide written submissions to the committee, the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs will be engaging with stakeholders to see how we can continue to reduce permitting timelines for new housing projects,” said Boyle.
Boyle had previously declined to comment on the bill, citing her respect for the committee process for private members’ bills.
The B.C. Conservatives called it “massively unpopular” and a waste of time.
“Eighty-eight per cent of the nearly 500 stakeholder submissions the committee received were opposed, including every single municipality that provided feedback,” said MLA Gavin Dew, who serves as deputy chair of the committee.
The bill was supported by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which said it would help reduce regulatory and cost burdens on small businesses.
“We note that B.C. has already endorsed a professional reliance model for major infrastructure projects,” said a CFIB statement on Thursday. “In the future, all businesses—regardless of size—should have access to similar processes that cut red tape.”
