VICTORIA, B.C.: Rosalyn Bird, MLA for Prince George-Valemount, is raising the alarm after the small northern community of McBride has seen its housing funding cancelled by the NDP government. The NDP government requires B.C. communities by law to identify their housing needs, while at the same time cutting the very funding meant to meet those needs.
The Village of McBride, with a population of around 600, has seen a significant downturn in population due to the closure of government offices and decrease in the forestry industry. The biggest barrier to economic revitalization and any increase in services or industry is the lack of housing. The McBride and District Housing Society has spent years preparing a project to build roughly 30 units of housing for families, seniors, and persons with disabilities. The Society secured land, advanced rezoning and subdivision through the Village Council, and spent close to $300,000 in public grant funding on the studies and architectural and engineering work required to apply to the Community Housing Fund. But in the 2026 budget, the NDP government suspended the 2025 intake of the Community Housing Fund, meaning McBride would not receive funding for the project, and all of the money and hard work put into the project was wasted.
Rosalyn Bird has sent a letter to the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs and the Minister of Finance. She is asking for an explanation on what happened to the promised funding and why it was cancelled and is calling on the government to reconsider its decision.
“In a community like McBride, this is not one project among many, it is the project,” said Bird. “Employers cannot keep workers because there is nowhere for them to live. Cancelling this funding does not merely delay a building; it stalls the recovery of an entire region.”
Under section 790 of the Local Government Act, every local government in B.C. is legally required to assess and report its housing needs on a fixed schedule. The Village of McBridge met that obligation, producing Housing Needs Reports in 2019 and 2024 which showed a rental vacancy rate under one percent, household incomes well below the provincial average, and a need for affordable units for seniors and families.
“The government passed laws requiring every community in this province to study and report its housing needs and then pulled the funding those same communities need to act on them,” said Bird. “That is not a plan. That is hypocrisy, and small, rural, and remote communities like McBride are paying the price.”
“We cannot solve a housing crisis by taking away the funding needed to get homes built,” said Linda Hepner, Conservative Critic for Housing. “The NDP government had promised communities much-needed funding, and then suddenly and quietly stripped it away. This is not an isolated issue; there are many communities which have been disadvantaged by the NDP’s reckless decision to suspend the Community Housing Fund.”
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