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The mysterious case of BC Housing’s paid memberships in a registered lobbying organization for real estate and development interests the Urban Development Institute (UDI), and how it revealed that a top BC Housing official was pushing for the crown corporation’s membership renewal in the UDI, while they were also simultaneously a UDI director.

The UDI Capital Region Director Lauren Antifeau is also currently the “Provincial Director, Redevelopment | Development & Asset Strategies” at BC Housing. Previously she was the Director of Development at Townline and worked for its subsidiary TL Housing Solutions. The current CEO of Townline Homes is the current Chair of the UDI in B.C.””

A decade previously, TL Housing Solutions, its parent company Townline, and BC Housing were the joint subject of some controversy and scrutiny: “there was a perception that B.C. Housing and TLHS “were not operating at arm’s length.”

By Sasha Izard
March 22, 2025

In a recent article in February, I showed how BC Housing estimates charging an outrageous $1768.50 combined, for 3 Freedom of Information Requests to do with basic financial and other information regarding payments to a registered lobbying organization that represents development and real estate interests.

Now is the time to tell the backstory that led to that. What it reveals is a whirlwind of ‘potential’ conflict of interest in the crown corporation, seemingly missing accounting and tracking information, numerous payments made by BC Housing to the registered lobbying organization and a BC Housing Official operating simultaneously on the UDI Capital Region Board while pushing BC Housing to renew its paid membership in the organization, something that took place afterward.

Background:

As summer came to a close in 2024, I was seeking to learn details about BC Housing’s paid relation to the UDI. The UDI had been hiding its members directory from the public since the fall of 2023 and BC Housing was listed on it. When I had asked BC Housing about the status of their UDI membership, they directed me to make a phone call. I preferred an answer in writing. I always prefer documentation in such scenarios.

On August 25, 2024. I made a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to BC Housing. The FOI is now File: 292-30-09324. This was the request:

“I am submitting an FOI request to show documents showing the expiration dates of BC Housing’s Urban Development Institute (UDI) memberships. According to the UDI’s 2023 membership directory, there were 3 memberships listed (below). Please also show documents, revealing the initial dates of purchase of the various BC housing UDI memberships and the last purchased memberships and their expiration dates. Also please show any documents showing any plans to renew the membership(s), if they exist.

– BC Housing,
1700-4555 Kingsway Burnaby
BC V5H 4V8, (604) 433-1711.

– BC Housing, 201 – 3440 Douglas Street Victoria BC V8Z 8L5,
(250) 475-7551 -BC Housing, 451 Winnipeg Street.”

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The following day, on Aug 26, 2024 BC Housing sent confirmation of my FOI request, providing instructions to pay $10 to BC Housing for the request.

I was pretty busy at the time and didn’t make the payment until Oct 6, 2024

Over a month later, on November 14, 2024 I received the FOI response with the following written in the response letter:

This itself was nothing unusual. I have received plenty of FOI response letters in the past containing similar statements, and at least this wasn’t one of those FOI responses, where almost everything of substance is blacked out.

On the contrary, most of the information in the 79 page FOI response pdf that I received was perfectly readable. That does not however indicate that information isn’t missing in the response.

As requested, the response included numerous invoices and receipts, as well as various communications about the UDI memberships by BC Housing staff.

One of the first things I noted was the following renewal invoice for the UDI Capital Region corresponding membership dating for the time frame Nov 1-2022 to Oct 31, 2023

The Renewal Invoice for Nov 1, 2023 – Oct 31, 2024 is in the FOI response, but not a receipt for it. The answer, if to glean from elsewhere in the FOI response, may have to do with this being a personal membership, and that person no longer working at BC Housing.

Also it should be noted that the UDI changed its membership system in late 2023, and all memberships are now organizational, rather than personal, although organizational memberships can include one or more employees depending on the type of membership covered.

What was far more interesting in the FOI response, was not this specific membership in the UDI Capital Region, but another UDI Capital Region membership, the payment information for which did not appear in the FOI response.

After looking through the FOI response, I wrote the following summary of something that I found raised a lot of questions. Some of the information was gleaned from the FOI response, some from LinkedIn, UDI.org and UVICRealEstate.com.


Summary: Lauren Antifeau is trying to get the UDI Capital Region membership renewed for BC Housing, offering her support in getting the invoice paid and coded.

The invoice/receipt is missing in the FOI response for the UDI Capital Region membership Nov 1, 2023 – Nov 1, 2024

The issue is that not only is Antifeau, as far as I read the document, BC Housing’s “primary account admin” for the UDI Capital Region, but she is simultaneously a Director of the UDI Capital Region.

Antifeau’s position on BC Housing is: “Provincial Director, Redevelopment | Development & Asset Strategies”

The UDI emailed her directly to ask for her to renew BC Housing’s UDI Capital Region membership.

Is this not at the very least, an ethical conflict of interest?

Antifeau is also on the UVIC Real Estate Club Board of Directors.

Previously to BC Housing she worked for Townline, a UDI member company, for 7 years. In fact, prior to being BC Housing’s Provincial Director of Redevelopment, she was the Director of Development of Townline. The current Chair of the UDI Pacific Region (aka Lower Mainland) in Vancouver the main branch of the UDI in B.C., is Rick Ilich, the CEO of Townline Homes.

From another FOI request that I made to the Province, I found that Ilich from his perch at the UDI had quite a bit to say about BC Housing to the Province. Some of his complaints to the Province, although not about BC Housing can be seen in this article that I wrote: Notes from UDI Exec – CRD Watch Homepage

Ilich’s statements about BC Housing evoked my interest, although I didn’t put them in the article for purposes of brevity. I may make a post about them later.

BC Housing and Townline have overlapped in the press before: Internal Audit Slammed BC Housing Deal in Victoria | The Tyee

“B.C. Housing withdrew from subsidizing rental condominiums on the site of downtown Victoria’s former Hudson’s Bay Co. store while under investigation by government auditors.

On Dec. 7, 2009, then-housing and social development minister Rich Coleman announced a $32.8 million, provincially financed project for TL Housing Solutions to develop the 120-unit Hudson Mews on property owned by Townline Victoria, which was to provide the land at 80 per cent of the market value.

Less than a year later, a Sept. 2010 story in Victoria News said the province pulled out and B.C. Housing, according to a prepared statement, said: “it was determined the project would not deliver the desired level of affordability for low and moderate income earners in B.C.”

But a May 13, 2011 Internal Audit and Advisory Services report released to The Tyee via Freedom of Information tells a different story. The report said auditors rejected B.C. Housing’s claim that Hudson Mews would improve directly or indirectly social housing in Victoria. It concluded that the project would expose the province to “significant and unnecessary financial risks.””

Antifeau worked for both TL Housing Solutions and Townline, although her mention of her experience with TL Housing Solutions is not in her LinkedIn profile at present. It was mentioned on her profile as a UDI director on the former UDI Capital Region page (see below).

Townline describes TL Housing Solutions as its “sister company”, but in reality TL Housing Solutions looks like a subsidiary.

This is what it says on Townline’s website about TL Housing Solutions at the time of writing: Townline — TL Housing Solutions

“Affordable Housing For Those in Need

At Townline, we strive to support all members of our community. Our sister company, TL Housing Solutions, was created to help non-profit housing providers help those in need. As part of our commitment to giving back, TL Housing Solutions contributes Townline’s expertise in financial modelling, permitting and in-house construction to help facilitate the entire process from planning to project completion, ensuring maximum value for all clients, partners and community.“

This is the website for TL Housing: TL Housing Solutions — We Build Whole Communities

At the time of writing at the bottom right of the page is written TOWNLINE:

TL Housing Solutions is located in the Victoria Public Market at the Hudson, which is owned by Townline and which has just been in the news for the public market shutting down.

Victoria Public Market to be turned into grocery store – Victoria Times Colonist

Antifeau’s position on the UVIC Real Estate Club also evokes interest. In the fall of 2024, I revealed that both (4) current and (2) former UDI directors, occupied 6 out of 8 positions on the UVIC Real Estate Club Board of Directors. In contrast, only 2 actual UVIC students were on the board at the time. The UDI Capital Region’s Executive Director was one of the current UDI Directors at the time to be on the UVIC Real Estate Club Board.

I also had pointed out in the past that despite the UDI Capital Region Executive Director’s claim that “UDI is not a lobbying group” to View Royal Mayor and Council on Sept 12, 2023 at the District’s Committee of the Whole, that not only is the UDI registered on the BC Lobbyists Registry, but the UDI Capital Region Executive Director is registered as the UDI’s in-house lobbyist.

Urban Development Institute / Anne McMullin, President & CEO – 12-Month Lobbying Summary – Lobbyists Registry – Office of the Registrar or Lobbying of BC

On the UVic Real Estate Club’s Partners (sponsors) page the UDI Capital Region Executive Director/simultaneous UVIC Real Estate Club Director was pictured at top with a microphone speaking to a seemingly captivated audience.

Just below that photo was:

That the main financing for the club comes from the UDI and its member companies, and after compelling an investigation into the matter by UVIC’s Gustavson school of business, the UVIC Real Estate Club was compelled to rename their directors, the “Advisory Board.”

Just prior to that switch in names, I had pointed out to the Dean of the Gustavson School of Business that contrary to the student claim accepted at face value by the school of business upon their investigation; that the UVIC Real Estate Club Board of Directors is merely “advisory” – a Board of Directors by definition is not merely advisory, but rather leads and directs an organization. If the Gustavson School of Business couldn’t figure that out, I would be writing to a real Board of Directors, the UVIC Board of Directors itself on the issue.

UVIC Real Estate Club compelled to rename its Board of Directors the “Advisory Board” after it turned out that the board was overwhelmingly dominated by current and past Directors from the same Provincially registered development/real estate lobbying organization. 6 out of 8 of the UVIC club Board members as it turned out, were not students attending UVIC. – CRD Watch Homepage

UDI (registered lobbying organization) Newsletter from March 2023 Advertised “connecting with the University of Victoria Real Estate Club for your next public hearing” – CRD Watch Homepage

Yes Antifeau had been sitting on a few fences simultaneously while being the Provincial Director, Redevelopment | Development & Asset Strategies at BC Housing.

On p.3 of the BC Housing FOI response the Manager, Publications and Industry Engagement, BC Housing – sent the following message on May 17, 2024 titled:

Re: UDI Memberships

“Hoping someone can tell us who the primary account admin is for BC Housing as we’re not sure”

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Membership@udi.org responded a few days later on May 21, 2024:

Please see the Primary Member account for each of our regions below.

UDI Lower Mainland – Kathy Louie
UDI Capital Region – Lauren Antifeau
UDI Okanagan – Tyler Baker

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The following is Antifeau’s description at the time of writing on UDI.org/leadership under the following category (you have to click on Capital Region):

The Regional Committee referred to in the profile is the UDI Capital Region, (Greater Victoria area) one of the 4 branches or chapters of the UDI in BC.

This snapshot was from the Board of Directors page of the UDI Capital Region’s website, before it was pulled down at the end of 2023:

Board of Directors – UDI Capital Region

This snapshot was from the main page of the UDI Capital Region’s website, before it was pulled down at the end of 2023:

Under Antifeau’s LinkedIn page at present is shown her education experience:

Note: She was the director of the UVic Urban Development Club, something that I have shown appears to have been the precursor to the UVic Real Estate club, and from its inception in 2013, appears to have been operating with the help, if not overview of the UDI, providing student club members tours of UDI company developments.

Is the UVic Real Estate Club Acting as a Lobby for the Development and Real Estate Industries in Greater Victoria?


Lauren Antifeau’s “Volunteer Experience” from LinkedIn:

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On Oct 6, 2024

The UDI sent the following email to Antifeau at BC Housing:

Yes, you read that correctly, the UDI was asking Antifeau Provincial Director, Redevelopment | Development & Asset Strategies at BC Housing to renew BC Housing’s corporate membership in the UDI Capital Region. Simultaneously, Antifeau was and still is at the time of writing on the UDI Capital Region’s Board of Directors.

Antifeau forwarded the message to Kathie Louie Director, Program Delivery and Business Planning at BC Housing.

This was the invoice for the UDI Capital Region – Secondary Associate II membership renewal for BC Housing, which was attached to the email.

Note, the receipt for the invoice was missing in the FOI response that I received. The proof of payment for the invoice, which was paid later in the fall of 2024, however eventually did show up after dogged persistence on my part involving numerous emails with the BC Housing’s FIPPA department and additional FOI requests. There will be more on that in the subsequent article.

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To recap: earlier in 2024, Membership@udi.org had written an email to an employee of BC Housing:

Please see the Primary Member account for each of our regions below.

UDI Lower Mainland – Kathy Louie
UDI Capital Region – Lauren Antifeau
UDI Okanagan – Tyler Baker

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So sat the situation regarding the UDI Capital Region. What about the other UDI memberships? Well BC Housing had been paying for multiple UDI memberships from different branches of the UDI including some pretty notable sums.

Here is one such receipt of a payment from BC Housing to the UDI Lower Mainland (based in Vancouver) of $5,775 issued on Oct 2, 2024 for an Associate I membership covering Feb 2, 2024 to Feb 1, 2025:

The UDI sent a confirmation email for the membership renewal:

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Backtracking in time, I made my initial FOI request to BC Housing on August 25, 2024. BC Housing itself it seems was trying to sort out confusion regarding its various memberships with the UDI at the time.

In an email between BC Housing staff with the subject:

RE: UDI Membership/Sponsorship and dated August 26, 2024 it was written:

“if we can get a report for UDI as well as any other memberships where we are paying for both corporate and personal memberships that would be very helpful. If we could include costs in those reports that would be great as well as which budget these have been coming out of historically.”

“Frankly I think UDI is a very important organization for us to be a part of so we will sort this out“

Note some of that email in the FOI response was censored under Section 13 ‘policy advice or recommendations to a public body’.

An employee’s response to the email (also on Aug 26, 2024) was:

“and can you please obtain from HR the below membership info for all DAS staff, noting that in some cases it won’t be a corporate plus staff membership, ie. we might be paying for multiple (10 or more) staff only memberships for various organizations.
FYI – I believe L&L might have provided us with such a report a number of years ago“

HR complied. This was included in the list they provided (the full list was much lengthier, but these were the entries concerning the UDI):

Notably missing in this list however were mention of, nor the costs of the UDI Capital Region membership.

The email text which preceded the list was the following:

“Here is the info below summarized from HR’s Leadership & Learning (Excel sheet attached) – there are 26 associations with memberships totaling $31k for 45 staff (period starting January 2023 to get a fuller picture but I removed duplicates to not double count). These would mostly be covered under HR L&L’s budget.

The caveat with this info is that if folks pay for any memberships directly on p‐card without going through the proper process of using TMS for the membership approval and tracking, there is no access to that data“

I want to pause here and note that I found the last paragraph raised a lot of questions for me:

“The caveat with this info is that if folks pay for any memberships directly on p‐card without going through the proper process of using TMS for the membership approval and tracking, there is no access to that data“

The following questions came to mind.

1. What is a p-card?

2. What is TMS?

3 Why wouldn’t they go through the proper process for membership approval and tracking.

4. Why is there no access to that data?

5. Was the UDI Capital Region membership paid directly on p-card and is that why no information appears on this list, and why some payment information regarding it may be missing from the FOI response?

6. Why isn’t BC Housing using a standard system of accounting that keeps tracking data standardized and available?

Many of these questions would spawn further FOIs and dialogues with BC Housing, each time the cost for which seemed to spiral greater and greater, until I was looking at combined potential bills at over $1750!

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The FOI response showed further communications in the BC Housing email chain regarding the memberships that seemed to be confusing the BC Housing employees themselves.

“Thanks and I am fairly certain that we have more than 2 UDI memberships. Any way to see what payments might have been made to UDI through JDE1 (even if paid by CC)? If only the 2, we can go ahead and renew our corporate membership“

Another response had written:

“A/P were able to kindly look into p‐card transactions and added the following:
McEown John UDI Membership Renewal 05‐03‐2024 DS ‐ North & IR
$ 735.00

Then I found these two in JDE1 paid directly to UDI, although the first one is a sponsorship, not a membership:

Comms ‐ Annual Sponsorship Agreement for the year 2024‐2025
$10,000.00

Malcolm McNaughton ‐ Corporate Membership Dues ‐ Capital Region Chapter: November 1, 2022 ‐ October 31, 2023 $236.49

All other transactions are for seminars/ luncheons so didn’t include those.
For folks no longer here, yes payments would cease as they have to re‐apply for membership approval annually through TMS, as well their visa cards would be cancelled, so payments wouldn’t go through either way.”

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My own note: the $10,000 Sponsorship from BC Housing to the registered lobbying organization for real estate and development interests, was something I had seen previously on the BC Lobbyists Registry. Multiple levels of government have subsidized the UDI with hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last half decade.

Still, I decided it was worth enquiring more about how that sponsorship came about in a future FOI request, something that again sent the costs demanded by BC Housing’s FIPPA department skyrocketing ever higher.

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Another email in the chain by this time Sept 16, 2024 included the following:

“I processed the UDI LM membership renewal fee which their office confirmed is $5,500 + GST, which is for the current year to February

As well I’ve requested the address change.

Please note the future renewals fees:

Lower Mainland: Associate I (50+ employees). Current pricing $5500 + GST.
The accounts manager will kindly extend the membership from February to May 2025, so next invoice is June 2025

Capital Region: Secondary Associate II (11‐49 employees), expiration November 1, 2024. Current pricing $1000 + GST

Okanagan Region: Secondary Associate III (1‐10 employees), expiration June 1, 2025. Current pricing $700 + GST

We’ll be reactivated when they receive the payment on their end.”

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Despite all the talk about the Capital Region Secondary Associate II membership in the communications documented in the FOI response and mention of it being a renewal charge, there was not one receipt of payment for it in the FOI. Note an invoice without payment data, is not a receipt of payment.

How could a specific membership be mentioned as about to expire when there is no evidence of payment for it at any point in time?

Could the answer be found in missing p-card data?

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Conclusion:

There were many invoices and receipts in the FOI request combined totalling many thousands of dollars, not only for 2024, but as my FOI request sought information going back a number of years there had been many thousands spent over previous years for UDI memberships. However, it isn’t the older invoices and receipts that interest me in particular. I may still post those in a future article.

In regard to the UDI Capital Region, the older receipts were for a much less expensive and lower grade of membership, likely personal, which BC Housing like other Crown Corporations would have provided reimburements for.

It’s Official: B.C. Provincial Government entities are reimbursing government employees for expenses spent on a registered lobbying organization representing corporate interests, involved in development and real estate. – CRD Watch Homepage

When did the cost increase to the thousand dollar ball park for a much higher grade of corporate membership? Why was the “admin” of this specific membership pushing for the latest BC Housing UDI Capital Region membership renewal, while working for BC Housing and while being a UDI director simultaneously?

Is this not a glaring ethical conflict of interest? BC Housing has certainly not been stranger to ‘potential’ conflict of interest issues in the recent past:

Forensic audit finds former B.C. Housing CEO directed funds to spouse’s non-profit | CBC News

Although the initial FOI response had proven fruitful, there were many more questions than answers. This spurred an intensive dialogue and further FOIs to BC Housing to find answers to them, with estimated FOI costs from BC Housing spiralling to eye dropping levels, and with answers returning from their FIPPA department rapidly becoming fewer and fewer. The process appeared to be stalling, something which seemed much more like a stand-off as a result.



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This article was followed by a sequel with subsequent information, including a proof of purchase for the most recent UDI Capital Region membership renewal, which seemed to magically pop out of thin air.

Part 2: The mysterious case of BC Housing’s paid memberships in a registered lobbying organization for real estate and development interests the Urban Development Institute (UDI), and how it revealed that a top BC Housing official was pushing for the crown corporation’s membership renewal in the UDI, while they were also simultaneously a UDI director. – CRD Watch Homepage

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See also: BC Housing estimates charging an outrageous $1768.50 combined, for 3 Freedom of Information Requests to do with basic financial and other information regarding payments to a registered lobbying organization that represents development and real estate interests. – CRD Watch Homepage

Anarchy for the BC Public Service in Regard to Conflict of Interest Law: “There are no laws per se”. – CRD Watch Homepage

Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs: “conflict of interest rules under the Local Government Act and Community Charter do not apply to local government staff.” – CRD Watch Homepage

Internal Audit Slammed BC Housing Deal in Victoria | The Tyee

Forensic audit finds former B.C. Housing CEO directed funds to spouse’s non-profit | CBC News

References:

Lauren Antifeau’s work experience from LinkedIn:

Lauren Antifeau – Provincial Director of Redevelopment – BC Housing | LinkedIn