Living above libraries, fire halls and schools? More housing options coming to B.C.

From a Vancouver Island fire hall to a Kootenay city hall to a Vancouver elementary school, subsidized housing above community amenities is poised to see massive growth.

As the provincial government continues to promote its strategies to battle the housing crisis, city councils are slowly increasing what's been a rarity till now: non-market housing above public assets. 

From a Vancouver Island fire hall to a Kootenay city hall to a Vancouver elementary school, subsidized housing above community amenities is poised to see massive growth.

“That is the future,” said Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, who also encouraged mayors to pitch him on such projects last month.

“We need to use every opportunity that we can to find ways to build housing, to build health care, to build schools, to build child-care centres together because it means vibrant, healthy communities.” 

Vancouver city councillor Brian Montague called the idea a “no brainer” that’s been successful at Crosstown Elementary, a downtown school that uses a city park as its playground and is integrated with a condo-tower. 

“When we look at upgrading city infrastructure or replacing it, we have to integrate it with things like housing,” he said. “We also need to look at how do we get the entire continuum of housing built faster and more of it?”

In Vancouver’s tony Coal Harbour neighbourhood, a new elementary school under construction will be topped with a daycare, plus non-market rental housing, while Victoria opened a new multi-million-dollar fire hall, ambulance station and emergency operations centre that also features medical offices and 130 units of subsidized housing last month.