As Canada’s second largest startup ecosystem, there’s a lot of tech in Vancouver.
Outside Vancouver, the second major hub of innovation in British Columbia is the “Silicon Vineyard” of Canada. Although only a few hours’ drive from the Wet Coast, the warm and dry desert highlands of the Okanagan region offer a much different setting than the oceanside city. Interior cities like Kelowna are their own magnets of entrepreneurship.
Many tire of Vancouver’s grinding lifestyle—it’s not all seawall strolls and lush mountain rides. There is the suffocating traffic congestion, endless rain, and a relentlessly high cost of living.
Regardless of reason, those who leave Vancouver but stay in BC often choose the Okanagan. Indeed, the region is becoming so popular with Canadians so quickly that Vancouver’s notorious price tags are chasing homebuyers all the way to Kelowna—and even some smaller cities in the area, such as Oliver. At least the rain hasn’t followed yet.
Oliver is an orchard-and-vineyard town of 5,000 sun-seekers situated between Osoyoos to the South and Penticton to the North. Today, tiny condos in Oliver are the price that a detached house might have fetched in Vancouver just a couple short decades ago.
The Okanagan is hot in more ways than one.
Government Taps Tech
BC needs a lot more housing, especially considering Canada now has the highest per-capita immigration in the world. This is placing tremendous pressure on an already strained market.
“Canada is now expecting more than one million new immigrants per year starting 2025; a 2.5% annual population growth due to immigration is remarkable,” CoPilot AI chief executive Henry Bee said in March. “We need to focus on increasing the supply of housing.”
One path forward is using technology to streamline cumbersome processes, smoothing out the friction points throughout the development process.
“There is tremendous opportunity in using technology to automate code compliance and process permits so homes can be constructed faster, and this is a step we can take quickly,” stated Neil Moody, chief executive of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association of British Columbia, in April.
For example, the Province of British Columbia is embarking on a plan to digitize the BC Building Code and streamline the building permitting process, paving the way for faster approvals and construction of new homes.
“Technology helps us do just about everything these days, but the housing sector remains reliant on the paper system,” stated Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Housing. “To help speed up the homebuilding process, we’re investing in technology that will make us a North American leader in digital permitting and construction.”
“Utilizing technology is vital to cutting wait times and making government more effective,” agreed Ken Sim, mayor of Vancouver. “We are pleased to see these further efforts being made across the province.”
Beyond Sim’s Vancouver, City of Kelowna staff have been working with Microsoft on an AI bot that could receive applications and issue permits within a matter of minutes.
It is the first municipality in Canada to pilot this tech-forward, AI-powered approach to permit applications.
Residential Resurrection
Another opportunity to boost housing figures is converting unused, non-residential spaces into occupied residential units.
Commercial property in downtown cores have lost value in recent years. Demand for downtown office space is diminished because many companies remain operating on hybrid or remote models initiated during the thick of the Pandemic and thus require fewer desks at headquarters than they did three years prior. Another reason is that the hiring market has cooled, with tech firms across Canada downsizing.
Vancouver-based real estate platform Addy is facilitating conversions through helping developers fund their projects—while giving Canadians a chance to own a piece of the profits.
In a boost to ongoing revitalization efforts in downtown Calgary, for example, Peoplefirst Developments recently announced “The Cornerstone” on addy. The 10-story, 129,000-square-foot office building is set to undergo conversion into 112 two- and three-bedroom residential units.
“Revitalizing the Core is as simple as providing people a place to live,” the developer explains. “By transforming empty office towers into vibrant, modern, and attainable residential spaces, we’re putting people where they matter most.”
More than 800 Canadians invested an average of over $600 each into The Cornerstone to complete the campaign total of $500,000—and it all happened in a span of just two weeks.
It’s not just skyscrapers jutting out of metropolitan earth like quills of a hedgehog which can become necessary housing for citizens, either. Conversions can begin as just about anything—such an old church.
Indeed, BC-based developer Rogers Management Group is planning to re-develop a historic church into a multifamily building. Where, you ask? Oliver.
The building, aptly located on Church Avenue, is slated to become an eight-unit apartment building over the next half-decade.
It’s a six-year investment for those buying in for as little as one dollar, and represents one of many offerings from addy’s platform.
“RMG will develop 6 units in Phase 1 and 2 more in Phase 2,” an online briefing explains. “Once the property has been stabilized, refinance in year 6, returning investors their capital with profit.”
“We believe in creating a future where real estate ownership is inclusive and abundant, and addy is proud to be at the forefront of this movement,” stated addy cofounder Stephen Jagger recently.
The project is open to premium addy members currently. So far, more than 400 Canadians have invested an average of $500 into the project.
A version of this article first appeared on Techcouver.
THE MIDWAY ADVANCE 