Building Permit Hub going live in Saanich, Victoria

More homes.

That’s the simple answer to so many of the complex challenges affecting our economy — from attracting and keeping workers to providing shelter for people camping on city streets.

The Chamber consistently advocates for policy changes and investment that will boost our housing supply. And we applaud the latest announcement this week that sees a pilot Building Permit Hub begin operations in select regions of the province, including in the City of Victoria and the District of Saanich. The online tool is expected to be available at the local level this summer.

The goal is to streamline and standardize local permitting processes that can be complicated and delay home construction.

“This new one-stop shop for local building permits will reduce red tape for homebuilders, local governments and First Nations, and ultimately save money, speed up construction and help people get into homes faster,” BC Premier David Eby said in a news release.

The new hubs:

standardize building-permit submission requirements across BC jurisdictions
automatically check that the permit application is complete; and
automatically check compliance with key parts of the BC Building Code.

The Building Permit Hub is scheduled to scale up over the next year to include more types of housing, and eventually serve more municipalities and First Nations in BC.