Whereas the Province has mandated significant increases in housing provisions as of 2024 to address the housing availability and affordability crisis, requiring growth in areas beyond municipalities original density plans; And whereas schools across British Columbia are at capacity, with enrollment-based planning failing to account for future growth, resulting in delayed school infrastructure despite municipalities being required to complete housing units under the Housing Supply Act without corresponding adjustments to school planning timelines: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM ask the BC Government to amend their school planning and funding policies so that schools are built and ready for occupancy based on projected population numbers andor legislated growth targets, ensuring timely school infrastructure development in municipalities affected by rapid housing growth, including but not limited to communities with Transit-Oriented Areas and Housing Supply Act requirements.
Ministry of Infrastructure School districts and the Province engage in extensive capital planning processes, which include enrollment analysis past, current and future to ensure that new student spaces are delivered in the areas they are needed most. Since 2017, the Province has committed more than 6.6 billion to build schools. These investments are creating: - nearly 46,500 new student spaces throughout BC, of which 22,000 are already complete; and - more than 39,000 seismically safer seats in BC schools; of which more than 33,000 are complete.