BC Moves to Streamline and Standardize the Local Building Permit Process

On Monday, the BC government announced a new digital Building Permit Hub intended to help streamline and standardize the local permitting process and to get more homes built faster to help address the current challenges in BC’s housing market.

The province is digitizing local permit processes to make it easier and faster for homeowners and industry professionals to submit applications to local governments and First Nations. The Building Permit Hub is the next step in the province’s work to speed up homebuilding and reduce the costs of housing and meet the province’s goal for BC to become a North American leader in digital permitting and construction.

In a statement prepared to accompany the press release, BC Premier David Eby said:

“The permitting process can be slow and complicated, delaying the construction of homes we urgently need. Together, we’ve made progress cutting provincial and municipal permitting times, but we have to keep going. This new one-stop shop for local building permits will reduce red tape for homebuilders, local governments, and First Nations and ultimately save money, speed up construction, and help people get into homes faster.”

The province’s work to cut provincial permitting times is already showing results. Provincial permits are being processed faster and backlogs are being cleared with permits being processed faster than they are coming in.