Saanich Peninsula chamber warns region will lose 27% of workers to 'discriminatory' housing policies
CTV
A Victoria-area business association says the region is at risk of losing more than a quarter of its workforce in the next 12 years unless local municipalities allow greater housing density to provide more affordable homes for workers.
A Victoria-area business association says the region is at risk of losing more than a quarter of its workforce in the next 12 years unless local municipalities allow greater housing density to provide more affordable homes for workers.
The Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses in Central Saanich, North Saanich and Sidney, B.C., says 27 per cent of the region's workers will be gone by 2036 unless municpla governments take immediate action on housing affordability.
"From 2016 to 2021, we lost seven per cent of our available workers and we are on track to lose another 20 percent in the next 10 years," the chamber's executive director Al Smith said in a statement Thursday.
"The number one issue is cost of living and the main contributing factor is cost of housing," he added.
The warning came after the chamber says it surveyed more than 300 businesses and found most are struggling to find qualified employees.
"We call on all municipalities to reverse more than 20 years of discriminatory municipal housing policies that avoided density, drove up housing costs, and denied realistic options for median and entry-level workers," Smith said.
The chamber says the peninsula needs 9,500 new homes in the next 10 years if it's going to stem the flow of workers from the region.
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