The proposed “Permanent Provincial Housing Policy Roundtable” is an astroturfing effort by the Real Estate Lobby in BC, with the help of a complicit media in the province. Questions must be asked about close to $100 in value gifts to numerous MLAs.

The proposed “Permanent Provincial Housing Policy Roundtable” is an astroturfing effort by the Real Estate Lobby in BC, with the help of a complicit media in the province. Questions must be asked about close to $100 in value gifts to numerous MLAs.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association had lobbied for a Provincial Housing Policy Roundtable for several years.

Questions around the likelihood of undue political access at such a permanent roundtable advising the government on housing policy must be answered.

The BC Lobbyists Registry records that the British Columbia Real Estate Association either promised to give almost $100 in value to many dozens of MLAs , or actually delivered close to $100 in value to numerous individual MLAs, at a lobbying event in the City of Victoria in 2023.

Less than 3 weeks, prior to that event, an article announced that the British Columbia Real Estate Association and other aligned organizations, were calling on the Province for a Housing Roundtable to advise government on housing policy.

By Sasha Izard Oct 5, 2025

On September 29, 2025 the Canadian Press issued a story, that was picked up by a number of news outlets in BC.

B.C. housing groups want government to start housing roundtable

The Victoria Times Colonist provided a dramatic opening:

“Standing in a boardroom at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Shawn Bouchard, vice-president of Quadra Homes in Abbotsford, B.C., said he initially planned to kick off his speech by burning a $20 bill before putting it a glass of water.

But staff told him it might set off the fire alarm, Bouchard said.

“That’s what happens. When you have a bad policy. You just burn money,” said Bouchard during a news conference Monday.

He was among several groups calling for the British Columbia government to set up a permanent roundtable of experts to lead housing policy as the province’s push to build more homes creates confusion and delays within communities.

The groups, which includes the British Columbia Real Estate Association, the Aboriginal Housing Management Association, Canadian Mortgage Brokers and local politicians and developers, said the roundtable is needed to help make effective housing policy. “

[…]

“The groups said the roundtable would bring housing experts to sit alongside municipal and provincial government officials to create solutions that better reflect the needs of communities,

Delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention passed a resolution on Friday calling for the establishment of a permanent provincial housing policy roundtable.

Hargreaves applauded the decision, saying it’s a “major landmark move” to allow all organizations to work together.

“This is more than a policy proposal,” said Hargreaves, “It’s a call to action, a call to the provincial government to implement a structured collaborative forum that ensures housing policy is developed with input from those directly impacted and on the ground, working on the front lines in the housing industry.”

Cities, housing groups want B.C. to launch permanent housing roundtable – Victoria Times Colonist

The more literal as opposed to literary, reporting of the story though has to go to Jami Makan, a BIV journalist that often appears as a sort of mouthpiece of corporate housing policy in BC.

“The B.C. government should establish a permanent roundtable of experts to “pressure-test” provincial housing policy, a Realtors association says.

The B.C. Real Estate Association (BCREA) renewed its calls for a roundtable at a Monday press conference, after the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) passed a resolution in favour of the idea last week.”

[…]

“BCREA’s coalition has formally approached the province with its idea for a roundtable three times over the past four years without success, said Hargreaves.”

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The origin of the Resolution: The British Columbia Real Estate Association, a registered lobbying organization on the BC Lobbyists Registry.

Does this all sound familiar? A lobbying organization that wants a permanent seat advising the government? Well it’s been done before.

The CRD had a similar committee, the Regional Housing Advisory Committee (RHAC), where the UDI another lobbying organization for real estate interests, had a permanent seat advising the CRD on housing policy. All the other non-governmental members with permanent seats on the committee, just happened to have been members of the UDI at one time, or in one form or another. The UDI even asked for those on the committee to being lobbying (yes that was actually in minutes of the committee).

That is until the RHAC was suspended during ongoing review, the UDI lost its permanent seat, and if the committee ever opens again it will be fully open to the public?

Why? Only a few months before the suspension, I asked a simple question to the CRD as to whether it is legal for the committee to be essentially closed to the general public. From what I am aware closed government committees are not allowed in local government, and the CRD does legally fall under local government, because it is a federation of location governments.

See: CRD Cleaning up its act on the Regional Housing Advisory Committee – CRD Watch Homepage

So this is a familiar story. It is also familiar from TransLink where the President and CEO of the UDI has served on its External Real Estate Advisory Committee.

A brief look at UDI member TransLink and BC Bill 47 (2023) – Sasha Izard

Calling committees “external” has been another way of having committees with the UDI on it meeting with government that are closed to the public, as in Saanich’s meetings with the UDI-Saanich Municipal Liaison Committee.

Remember internal meetings in local government are not allowed, despite that such committee meetings have taken place on Saanich property.

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So this roundtable idea is hardly something new under the sun, rather it is a tradition of lobbying groups gaining permanent presence in committees that are governmental or meet with government, or at any rate blur the lines between government, lobby organization, and policy generation, you get the idea. The public seldomly can even observe such meetings as in Saanich where the meetings are closed to the public.

So let’s look at the organization that was really pushing this idea of a “Permanent Provincial Housing Policy Roundtable“, the British Columbia Real Estate Association:

Like the UDI, the British Columbia Real Estate Association is a registered lobbying organization on the BC Lobbyists Registry.

Here is the latest 12 month lobbying summary for it:

British Columbia Real Estate Association / Trevor Koot, Chief Executive Officer – 12-Month Lobbying Summary – Lobbyists Registry – Office of the Registrar or Lobbying of BC

Oh who would have guessed it? The British Columbia Real Estate Association lobbied the Ministry of Housing, requesting it for the “establishment of a Permanent Provincial Housing Roundtable to discuss proposed housing policies.”

Excerpt above from the BC Lobbyists Registry showing that the British Columbia Real Estate Association lobbied the Ministry of Housing for a “Permanent Provincial Housing Roundtable”.

Here are some other items that it lobbied the Province on according to the registry:

Not surprisingly, they lobbied in regard to tax, including exemptions:

This one in particular stood out to me:

“Balancing private property rights with public policy on the Agricultural Land Reserve”

Why on earth would the real estate industry be interested in the Agricultural Land Reserve? (Yes, that question is rhetorical).

This one also stood out to me:

“Congratulate newly-elected MLAs and request a meeting to discuss key issues of interest to Realtors and real estate organizations.”

In 2023, there was an MLA reception dinner in Victoria (described in the registry as an annual lobbying event in the city), at which the BC Real Estate Association either promised almost $100 in value to each of many dozens of MLAs listed, or actually delivered almost $100 of value to them (I doubt the value was their advice). If that sounds strange, I’m interpreting the registration of this information on the BC Lobbyists Registry exactly as it appears to me, which you can see below:

The lobbyists registry also reveals that the British Columbia Real Estate Association has been lobbying over the last year, in conjunction with many of the other organizations that pushed for this permanent governmental roundtable:

One can compare that list with an article written close to 2 and a half years ago (less than 3 weeks before the MLA reception dinner) about the organizations pushing for a BC Housing Roundtable:

“A coalition of diverse local organizations in British Columbia are calling on the provincial government to establish a permanent roundtable of housing experts and stakeholders in order to better address the housing crisis that BC continues to face and is struggling to alleviate.

The coalition making that call includes the Aboriginal Housing Management Association, Active Manufactured Home Owners Society, Appraisal Institute of BC, BC Non-Profit Housing Association, BC Real Estate Association (BCREA), Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association – BC, LandlordBC, Mortgage and Title Insurance Industry Association of Canada, Small Housing BC, and the Surrey Board of Trade.”

Coalition of 10 Organizations Call for Creation of BC Housing Roundtable

Oh, what a surprise, it’s the exact same list!

Excerpt form the article:

“A similar situation has recently played out on the federal level, with the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act — also known as the foreign buyer ban. Stakeholders in the real estate industry have regularly voiced frustrations with the rollout of the regulations, which involved little dialogue and weren’t fully announced until less than two weeks before they came into effect. The ban resulted in some unintended consequences that affected developers and housing supply, and the federal government ultimately acknowledged as much after it amended the act on March 27.”

The sheer volume of in-house lobbyists that the British Columbia Real Estate Association, has with the Province, must make even the UDI pale in comparison. If one suffers from vertigo, please don’t look down:

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Between May of 2023, and late September of 2025, I’ve found no articles about the proposed housing roundtable. If you can find one, feel free to send me an email at info@sashaizard.com

The lack of coverage of this issue between then and the UBCM resolution, reveals if there was ever still any doubt that this was not a grass roots movement, rather it was an agenda pressed by the real estate lobby with a history going back several years, and not coming from the public. In other words astroturfing, arising from clearly vested interests.

So let’s return to UBCM this year, in September of 2025.

UBCM this year, held at the 5 star Fairmont Empress, was sponsored by many corporate interests including those involved in oil and gas, urban development etc. What else is new?

Sponsorship | Union of BC Municipalities

“Vancouver, BC – September 29, 2025. The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) has officially passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a Permanent Provincial Housing Policy Roundtable, a move widely endorsed by local governments, housing organizations, and sector stakeholders across British Columbia.

The resolution, originally brought forward by the North Central Local Government Association, urges the provincial government to convene a standing roundtable that includes representatives from:

local governments;
Indigenous housing organizations;
market and non-market housing groups;
academic experts; and
provincial and federal housing ministries.

The goal is to foster collaborative, evidence-based housing policy development that reflects the diverse needs of communities across BC.

The BC Real Estate Association (BCREA) and a growing coalition of housing and community stakeholders support this initiative, reflecting province-wide momentum behind the call for a permanent roundtable. Coalition members include multiple BC municipalities, chambers of commerce, and sector organizations, such as the Aboriginal Housing Management Association, Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association – BC, LandlordBC, and Manufactured Home Park Owners Alliance of British Columbia.

The passing of the UBCM resolution comes at a pivotal time, as BC welcomes new Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Christine Boyle. Stakeholders are hopeful that the Minister will act swiftly to implement the roundtable, recognizing the broad support it has received and the urgent need for coordinated policymaking.

“This resolution represents a major step forward in creating inclusive and effective housing policy,” stated Jasroop Gosal, BCREA Government Relations Manager. “We look forward to working with the new Housing Minister and all stakeholders to ensure this roundtable delivers real results for British Columbians.”

The resolution now awaits a formal response and action from the provincial government.”

UBCM Endorses Permanent Provincial Housing Policy Roundtable Resolution – British Columbia Real Estate Association

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Appendix 1: Oct 5, 2025 letter to UBCM regarding the resolution.

Hello UBCM,

The following article states:

“The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) has officially passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a Permanent Provincial Housing Policy Roundtable, a move widely endorsed by local governments, housing organizations, and sector stakeholders across British Columbia.”

https://www.bcrea.bc.ca/advocacy/ubcm-endorses-permanent-provincial-housing-policy-roundtable-resolution/

I would like to see all the information that UBCM has about that resolution, a list of the delegates that presented it, and including the discussions that led up to the decision.

I cannot find the resolution put forward in the 2025 UBCM Resolutions book.

Thank you,
Sasha Izard

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Appendix 2: “The resolution originally brought forward by the North Central Local Government Association”

According to the following link, the resolution was originally brought forward by the North Central Local Government Association.

UBCM Endorses Permanent Provincial Housing Policy Roundtable Resolution – British Columbia Real Estate Association

Year: 2025

Sponsors: NCLGA Executive

Category: Community and Resources

NCLGA Ref#: E10

Status

Referred back to the NCLGA Executive by the NCLGA Membership

WHEREAS effective and sustainable housing policies require advance consultation with local governments, Indigenous organizations, non-profit providers, private sector experts, and academic institutions to ensure workable, coordinated solutions, and recent provincial housing legislation has often been developed without sufficient input from sector stakeholders, leading to unintended consequences, implementation challenges for local governments, and impacts on housing supply and affordability;

AND WHEREAS a Permanent Provincial Housing Policy Roundtable, modeled on advisory bodies such as the Energy Step Code Council, would strengthen collaboration, improve the development and implementation of housing policy, and ensure ongoing engagement with key stakeholders;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the North Central Local Government Association (NCLGA) and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) advocate for the Government of British Columbia to establish a Permanent Provincial Housing Policy Roundtable with representation from local governments, Indigenous housing organizations, non-profit and private housing sectors, academic experts, and both provincial and federal housing ministries, to strengthen housing policy development, monitor impacts, and support coordinated solutions to British Columbia’s housing challenges.

2025 Resolutions (Accessed: Oct 5, 2025)

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Appendix 3: Permanent Provincial Housing Policy Roundtable Brief from the BC Real Estate Assocation (Sept 2025)

Permanent Provincial Housing Policy Roundtable Brief

The following document was accessed on Oct 19, 2025:

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This article has a sequel:

“No, we do not have minutes.” – The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) fails to document meetings that lead to resolutions. – CRD Watch Homepage

3rd article: Complete lack of transparency: “As far as UBCM Resolutions Committee and my role as chair no we do not take or distribute minutes of the plenary sessions.” – CRD Watch Homepage

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