Affordable Housing

35 years.

That’s how long it takes the average household to save for the minimum down payment of a non-condo home in Vancouver.¹ BC is one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the world.

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117,000.

The number of BC households needing help affording rent for their current home.²

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30%

BC has the highest rents in the country. In Vancouver, average rents increased 30% in 2021.³

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Here’s what we can do about it — together.

Increase supply.

We believe that government and the market on their own can’t solve the complex housing problems we face. There are many organizations with land that want to build affordable housing, but lack the funds to help them reach the construction phase.

The pre-construction phase is one of the most risky stages of development, and financial support (like lending) can often be too expensive or difficult to secure for organizations.

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"It's too risky."

When it was "too risky" to lend to women without a co-signer in the 1950s, or when it was "too risky" to lend to people living East of Main Street in the 1940s, we didn't stand by. We were the first to approve their loans.

And now, we're addressing one of the greatest problems of our time. Every time you put money in a bank account, you’re giving decision-making power to that bank. At Vancity, your deposits help build affordable housing by giving organizations access to low-cost pre-construction loans.

What happens when we bank differently.

4,200 units

of affordable rental housing

2.5M sqft

of climate-ready homes

$1.57 billion

in construction value of homes

This is what the Vancity Affordable Housing Accelerator Fund has been able to do since 2011 with the support of 500,000+ Vancity members.

As for our own branches, when we renovate or build new ones, we work with partners to build affordable homes above our buildings where possible. We invest in our communities and want to put the sites we operate from to more use that benefit our neighbours. Currently, 217 affordable homes are in the process of being built or planned above our branches and other property.

Proof with roofs.

All this is only possible because Vancity members know that where they put their money matters, and they choose to put theirs here.

How does it work? A portion of day-to-day deposits are lent out to impactful projects that align with our values. On top of that, 30% of our annual net profits are invested back into BC communities.