Saanich Peninsula chamber warns region will lose 27% of workers to 'discriminatory' housing policies

An undated drone photograph of the Saanich Peninsula community of Sidney, B.C. (iStock)

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 municipal 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.

'Discriminatory' housing policies

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.

In September, the provincial government announced it was imposing new housing targets on 10 municipalities. While the nearby communities of Victoria, Saanich and Oak Bay were on the list, requiring more than 10,000 new homes to be built between the three cities, Saanich Peninsula municipalities were not.

Transit, aging population also blamed

The province says it intends to issue housing target orders for between 16 and 20 municipalities per fiscal year, requiring municipal governments to update zoning bylaws and streamline development approvals or risk provincial intervention.

The Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce says housing isn't the only issue preventing its member businesses from recruiting workers, either.

Limited public transit options and an aging population are also taking a toll on employers, according to a chamber study on workfare reduction published in January.

According to the association, 77 per cent of people working on the peninsula are required to commute an average of 40 kilometres per day to and from their jobs.

The chamber says younger workers who cannot afford a car are especially affected by the lack of transit as they are forced to either find work closer to home or move to a region with better transit access or more affordable housing.