Only 14% think their municipal government should reject the provincial government’s demand to build more housing units.
Vancouver, BC [October 2, 2024] – British Columbians head to this year’s provincial election voicing significant support for the current government’s housing plans, and severe dissatisfaction with economic matters, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative sample, 75% of British Columbians say it is “considerably harder” or “moderately harder” now to make ends meet than two years ago—a proportion that rises to 77% among those aged 35-to-54 and to 78% among renters.
More than half of British Columbians say four tasks are now harder than they were two years ago: finding a job (54%), paying for post-secondary education (59%), saving money for retirement (75%) and buying a house (79%).
“Sizeable majorities of British Columbians who reside in Metro Vancouver (59%) and Southern BC (58%) say finding a job is more complicated now than in 2022,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “More than four-in-five British Columbians aged 55 and over (82%) say it is harder now to save money for retirement.”
Most British Columbians remain supportive of the housing policies implemented during the tenure of John Horgan as Premier of British Columbia: increasing the foreign buyers tax from 15% to 20% (72%, -2 since a similar Research Co. poll conducted in February 2024), expanding the foreign buyers tax to areas located outside of Metro Vancouver (69%, -2), introducing a “speculation tax” in specific urban areas targeting foreign and domestic homeowners who pay little or no income tax in BC, and those who own second properties that aren’t long-term rentals (66%, -3), introducing a tax of 0.2% on the value of homes between $3 million and $4 million, and a tax rate of 0.4% on the portion of a home’s value that exceeds $4 million (62%, =) and increasing the property transfer tax from 3% to 5% for homes valued at more than $3 million (61%, -1).
The housing policies that came into place after David Eby became Premier of British Columbia are also endorsed my majorities of the province’s residents: building more modular supportive homes in areas where people are experiencing homelessness (75%, =), capping rent increases in 2024 at 3.5% (70%), raising the fines for short-term rental hosts who break local municipal by-laws to $3,000 per day per infraction (64%, -5), implementing a three-business-day protection period for financing and home inspections (63%, -6), ending most strata age restrictions (59%, -1), removing strata rental restrictions (56%, +4) and banning homeowners from operating a short-term rental business unless it is located on their principal residence and/or on a different unit on their property (53%, -5).
Just under three-in-four British Columbians (74%) think their municipal government should accept the provincial government’s demand to build more housing units, while 14% disagree and 12% are undecided.
Residents of the Fraser Valley are slightly more likely to support the provincial government’s call to build more housing units (78%) than their counterparts who reside in Vancouver Island (76%), Metro Vancouver (73%), Southern BC (72%) and Northern BC (also 72%).
British Columbians are evenly divided on what the actions of the provincial government will bring, with 43% (+2) thinking they will be “effective” in making housing more affordable, and 43% (-4) believing they will be “ineffective”.
More than half of British Columbians aged 18-to-34 (55%) expect the provincial government to succeed in making housing more affordable. Fewer residents aged 35-to-54 (45%) and aged 55 and over (31%) share this point of view.
Methodology: Results are based on an online survey conducted from September 5 to September 7, 2024, among a representative sample of 801 adults in British Columbia. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in British Columbia. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
Find our data tables here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca