Okanagan Building Industry

Candidate Survey

Candidate Questionnaire

Tell us where you stand

This questionnaire assesses each candidate’s commitment to the principles central to our community’s economic and social sustainability. The participating associations will distribute a report summarizing the responses to help our members make informed choices on election day, October 17, 2026.
Name
Office sought
1. In the Okanagan, CHBA, SICA and UDI represent 300–370 homebuilding and contracting companies that employ 16,000 people in the South Okanagan. In July 2026, Kelowna's unemployment rate reached 9.3%, among the highest of any major Canadian city, and the decline in construction activity is a key contributor to this troubling figure. In the first half of 2026, housing starts fell 37% compared with the same period in 2025. Will you champion initiatives that enable new home construction and make housing and related jobs growth a top priority in the next Council term?
2. Municipal investment in infrastructure—including airports, water systems, roads, and community facilities—creates jobs, places to work, attracts private investment, and supports economic growth. Will you actively support a pro-growth agenda that advances our communities and creates well-paying jobs?
3. A new home in B.C. is beyond the reach of many people who want to live and work here, particularly young families seeking the opportunities and financial security available to previous generations. Government taxes, fees, and levies account for 30% of the cost of a new home in the Okanagan. Will you support municipal measures that reduce the fees and the cost of building new homes?
4. Will you support initiatives to streamline planning approvals, reduce delays, and help housing and related projects begin construction sooner?
5. Will you actively urge senior levels of government to remove the GST from new home sales in B.C.?
6. Municipal housing policies have become increasingly interventionist in pursuit of broader social objectives, distorting the market and limiting the types of housing that can be built. For example, Kelowna's OCP has encouraged high-rise development in the urban core and multiplexes in established single family neighbourhoods. Although these policies had some historical success, changing market conditions have made them ineffective: high-rise projects struggle to secure financing, and infill multiplexes are not economically viable in much of the city. Meanwhile, demand remains strongest for attainable, ground-oriented homes. Should City Hall use zoning to restrict housing types and force lifestyle choices available to people of different ages and incomes who want to live in the Okanagan?
7. Recognizing the limits to creating infill housing in existing neighbourhoods, would you support the permitting of currently undeveloped lands, respecting environmental areas, to create more ground-oriented homes to meet consumer demand and the preferences of young families and established professionals who want to live in Kelowna?
8. Will you promote Official Community Plan updates that allow new neighborhoods to be built in suitable locations beyond the current Growth Boundary, where housing construction is practical, attainable and demonstrably in the best interests of the broader community?
9. "Growth pays for growth" is a common municipal policy across Canada. It requires new development to fund all associated infrastructure, even though that infrastructure also benefits existing residents and the broader economy. These costs are passed on through higher home prices, making new housing less affordable and less viable to build. Because new homes and infrastructure create jobs, improve services, and attract investment across the local economy, new homebuyers should not bear the full cost of these improvements. Will you revisit this policy to ensure it is transparent and fair to all taxpayers, including those who are new to the community whose homes are made less affordable because they, in fact, subsidize infrastructure and services that benefit the entire community?
10. Should job creation and housing construction be a top priority for the upcoming Council?

Authorized by Urban Development Institute (UDI), registered sponsor under the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act, [contact email or phone]

This survey records candidates’ own responses. It does not endorse any candidate.

We acknowledge that we live and work on the unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation.