Douglas Todd: Valiant Metro churches try to plug housing gap

Metro Vancouver’s churches have been leading spirited campaigns to supply more housing for the city’s 2.4 million residents and new arrivals.

Because Christian denominations in the past century built the most places of worship in southwestern B.C., most of the faith groups contributing to housing supply are United, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Anglican and evangelical. Many Vancouver churches have been behind residential towers of more than 20 storeys. Their two-storey sanctuaries are often able to sell their “air rights” to highrise developers for tens of millions of dollars.

That is a small portion of the roughly 20,000 to 28,000 units being constructed each year in Metro Vancouver, however. The Catholic Knights of Columbus has built several large complexes for seniors and others. Mike Garisto, president of Columbus Homes, says its latest efforts are a $40-million rental apartment for people over aged 55 on the west side of Vancouver, plus another 50-unit apartment building in Cloverdale.

Similarly, Metro Vancouver’s Sikh gurdwaras have not yet become involved in housing. That said, non-profit organizations like Surrey’s Progressive Intercultural Community Services have been actively building seniors housing, tailored for members of ethnic minorities.The highly active United Church’s key effort in 2019 is partnering with the B.C.

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