British Columbians Ponder Who Can Deliver Affordable Housing

The provincial government has the highest level of trust from residents, while for-profit developers are at the bottom.  

Vancouver, BC [January 11, 2021] – The current provincial administration outranks the federal government when British Columbians are asked who they have confidence in to deal with affordable housing, a new Research Co. poll has found.  

In the online survey of a representative provincial sample, 55% of British Columbians say they trust the provincial government under the BC New Democratic Party (NDP) to deliver affordable housing in the province.  

The numbers are significantly lower when residents are asked to consider the actions of a provincial government headed by the BC Liberal Party (36%) or headed by the BC Green Party (33%).  

“As expected, a sizeable majority of BC NDP voters in the 2020 election (73%) express confidence in the current provincial government to manage affordable housing ,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “More than two-in-five of those who cast ballots for the BC Liberals (47%) and the BC Greens (45%) in 2020 also trust the current provincial administration on this file.”  

Fewer than two-in-five British Columbians (39%) have confidence in the federal government under the Liberal Party to deliver affordable housing. The numbers are significantly higher when the province’s residents assess what things would look like with the federal NDP in charge (51%) and lower for a federal government assembled by the Conservative Party (32%).  

Women (40%) and British Columbians aged 18-to-34 (46%) are more likely to express confidence in the actions of the federal government under the Liberal Party to deliver affordable housing than men (37%), residents aged 35-to-54 (38%) and residents aged 55 and over (35%).  

Almost half of British Columbians (47%) trust their own provincial administration to deliver affordable housing. The rating is slightly higher for not-for-profit developers (49%) and substantially lower for for-profit developers (19%).  

In a December 2021 poll conducted by Research Co. in Metro Vancouver, 31% of respondents identified housing as the most important issue facing their municipality.