The state of housing in northern British Columbia will be the topic of a conference set for next month at the University of Northern British Columbia.
It's being billed as an opportunity for builders, developers, planners, real estate agents, mortgage lenders, economic development organizations and non-profit groups to get a sense of the opportunities and challenges communities in the region present on the front.
It will begin with the unveiling of findings from a study UNBC's Community Development Institute conducted this spring that assesses the characteristics of the population and the housing in each of 10 communities - Prince George among them.
"It gives you a really good sense of whether there's a match or a mismatch between the housing stock and the population - currently and the trends for the future," said CDI co-director Marleen Morris.
The presentation will be followed by a selection of workshops that look at aging in place; opportunities for renovation and new construction; "flex" housing that allows owners to convert their homes to meet changing needs; "passive" housing or ventilated airtight homes heated using solar power; mixed market and non-market housing; pre-fabricated building components; and housing from a planner's perspective.
The motivation for the work is the realization that housing is "both an enabler and a limiting factor for economic growth," Morris said.
"If communities do experience economic growth and they do have the opportunity to attract workers to new jobs in the community, one of the first things all of those people will look for is housing.
"And so we have to make sure we've got a really solid housing supply at a range of levels and a range of sizes and a range of prices to match the economic development that these communities could experience.
"If you don't have those, then housing is a barrier for that community."
The conference is set for Fri., Nov. 18 on the campus. A public presentation is set for the evening before.
For more information and to register, go to www.unbc.ca/community-development-institute/northern-bc-housing-conference.
