In collaboration with partners in communities across the province, BC Healthy Communities (BCHC) is hosting a speaker series throughout 2021 to bring fresh ideas for healthy public policy to local and Indigenous government leaders in B.C. Healthy public policy is a powerful tool local governments can use to meaningfully improve the lives of their constituents. Healthy public policies positively impact issues directly within local government purview, including community safety, local economic activity, social service delivery, and sustainability and improve the health and well-being of a community as a whole.
The Creating Healthy Public Policy – Local Government Leaders Speaker Series continues with Affordable Housing Land Acquisition Strategies. This session, featuring James Moore and Arlene Janousek from the City of Kelowna’s planning department, looks at Kelowna’s experience developing a strategy to support the acquisition of land that can be used for affordable housing. Housing affordability is a key issue for many local governments across the province, and its impacts can be felt across a community through secondary impacts such as homelessness, labour shortages, strained transportation networks, hampered local economic development and diminished participation in civic life. Many communities in B.C. are exploring the use of land acquisition strategies to proactively respond to these challenges, guide decision-making and help create property portfolios that lend themselves to the community’s strategic priorities and goals.
>> View the recorded version of this event here.
The Local Government Leaders Speaker Series is presented by PlanH.