Advocacy Update #30 - February 12, 2026

In this issue:

CHBA BC Team at 2026 Day on the Hill
Provincial Budget Release Coming Next Week
2025 National Model Codes Advocacy
EV-ready Roadmap
In-Person Workshop: Power-Efficient Design Strategies for New Multiplexes

CHBA BC Team at 2026 Day on the Hill

This week, CHBA National's Day on the Hill event brought together parliamentarians and leaders in the home building industry in Ottawa to discuss housing, Canadians and communities. The event complements the extensive year-round consultations that CHBA has with MPs.

The CHBA BC team were pleased to meet with a number of MPs from across B.C. Our team had thoughtful discussions on GST rebates, stress tests, and the housing-infrastructure gap, all critical pieces to address if we want to unlock more homes.

We also presented CHBA's policy document, Unlocking the Door to Home Ownership - Recommendations on the Federal Role, and spoke about housing affordability, supply challenges, and the importance of practical policy solutions that support sustainable growth across Canada.

Provincial Budget Release Coming Next Week

CHBA BC has been invited to attend Budget Lock-Up in Victoria on Tuesday, February 17, in advance of the public release of the BC Budget.

The Finance Minister Brenda Bailey has signalled that this iteration of the provincial budget may include major cuts in an effort to address the growing deficit. This year’s budget speech from the Finance Minister will also signal the government's priorities for this upcoming legislative session.

These priorities are typically outlined in advance of the budget during the Speech from the Throne, which had been scheduled for this afternoon. However, the speech was cancelled as the Legislature observes a day of mourning following the tragic events in Tumbler Ridge this week.

CHBA BC will monitor the details of the budget as they are released.

2025 National Model Codes Advocacy

CHBA National is advocating that the federal government pause all changes to the National Building Code (NBC), as Australia has done, and delay adoption of the 2025 edition until it can be reviewed and select sections re-written with the goal of implementing changes to reduce costs and complexity.

The new edition of the NBC includes significant technical changes that will impact residential construction. CHBA BC will be coordinating advocacy on code implementation at the provincial level.

EV-ready Roadmap

Clean Energy Canada and the Community Energy Association recently released a policy roadmap Making All New B.C. Homes EV-ready, which sets out nine steps toward a province-wide 100% EV-readiness requirement for all new residential buildings (those covered by Part 3 as well as Part 9 of the BC Building Code).

In-Person Workshop: Power-Efficient Design Strategies for New Multiplexes

Want to learn how to reduce electrical loads and streamline service connections in new multiplex buildings?

Join industry experts and City of Vancouver staff for a practical session on Power Efficient Design (PED) for multiplex projects (i.e., strategies that can help lower peak electrical demand, optimize service capacity, and reduce utility costs and connection delays). Speakers will share real-world approaches to load management, energy-efficient equipment selection, and early coordination with BC Hydro.

Two sessions are available on March 10 with identical content:

Morning session from 8:30–10:00 a.m.
Afternoon session from 12:30–2:00 p.m.

BC Housing issued a request for proposals from teams of general contractors and manufacturers for the first two demonstration projects to be designed and built using Digitally Accelerated Standardized Housing (DASH).

Op-ed suggests millennials are taking a new path to home ownership with prefabricated and multiplex housing.

Report indicates home prices in parts of Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley back to levels before pandemic-induced surge.

This newsletter is exclusive for Canadian Home Builders' Association of BC (CHBA BC) members. If a colleague would like to subscribe, please have them update their contact information with their local association. For questions, feel free to contact Jenny Scott, Director of Policy and Government Relations, or Pauline Rupp, Director of Technical and Building Innovation.