The Government of British Columbia is investing in digital permitting and the construction industry to make the process quicker and more collaborative.
“Faster approvals and builds will unlock more homes for British Columbians sooner, easing some of the pressure on our strained housing market,” said Ravi Kahlon, minister of housing.
The Ministry of Housing, with support from the Ministry of Citizens’ Services, is working on digitizing the BC Building Code and the building permitting process with pilots in select local governments in 2024.
The BC Building Code is currently only available in print or PDF format. The digitally enhanced code will include features that will make it faster and easier for builders and building inspectors to understand and interpret the information. It will also allow for more automation during building permit reviews.
The building permitting process currently varies widely across local governments: some use digital tools and some rely on paper. The provincial government’s work to digitize the process will include working with local governments.
The province is also investing in Digital, previously known as the Digital Technology Supercluster, with a $9-million, three-year grant to accelerate the development and adoption of innovative technologies in the construction sector.
Digital is a B.C-based independent, not-for-profit organization that focuses on the development, adoption and deployment of Canadian-made digital technologies through a unique collaborative model that brings together Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), multinationals and academia.
“Utilizing technology is vital to cutting wait times and making government more effective. We are pleased to see these further efforts being made across the province. Vancouver recently moved over to a fully digital permit system, where builders can apply, pay and receive their permit electronically through our ePlan system. Vancouver is proud to be a leading government in embracing technology, and we are excited to see other jurisdictions doing so as well,” said Ken Sim, mayor of Vancouver.
