Wesgroup Properties is racking up tens of thousands of views for a YouTube video which tackles critical issues homebuilders say hamper efforts to address Canada's dual housing and affordability crises.

Vancouver-based Wesgroup created the animated production in hopes of sparking a national conversation on how government fees and regulations are stifling the ability to develop housing supply. While it might not be considered viral - yet - the video was set to cross the 200,000-view threshhold today (August 28).

Titled Housing Crisis 101: Why Homes Don't Just Happen, the video was published about four weeks ago. It's part of a wider project by the company to get more citizens and politicians talking about the issues.

In the five-minute production, Wesgroup says major obstacles to homebuilding in Canada include high taxes and fees on new construction, and building code, sustainability and safety regulations that change mid-development.

Developers are raising red flags about over-complicated housing policy and ongoing delays with approvals that are raising fees and charges, sparking demands for “a deeper understanding of what the collective issue is,” Brad Jones, senior vice-president of development at Wesgroup, told RENX Homes.

The absence of one, central organization that could advocate for the residential housing construction industry nationwide, and the public’s perceived lack of knowledge about homebuilding, motivated Wesgroup to release the video.

“So we decided to take a bit of a different approach and try to synthesize what we think some of the major problems are into a relatively short, understandable explanation,” Jones said.

Broadcasting its intents

The video is Wesgroup’s first try at the medium to share its message, Jones said, and the company had hoped for high viewership.

Rather than conventional means of messaging its concerns, such as press releases and media commentary, Wesgroup opted for YouTube because the traditional options have been tried extensively. Jones said a video would be an “interesting way” to try to get the public and policy makers to understand industry problems.

Using internal data and figures from organizations like the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Wesgroup laid out roadblocks it puts on the feet of all levels of government.

Building, energy and electricity codes are modified frequently, forcing the company to make costly adjustments in mid-stream to development projects.

The infrastructure funding model is “broken” Jones said, noting the scale of infrastructure projects has outgrown the capabilities of local governments. This raises fees and charges because more funds are needed to cover these infrastructure deficits.

He used the example of a water treatment facility in Vancouver that went significantly over budget and beyond its construction schedule.

Compared to a project from 11 years ago, government fees have more than tripled and construction costs have doubled, while Wesgroup’s margins have been cut by 31 per cent, he explained. This affects the financial viability of housing construction, while immigration and housing policies are “disconnected”, Jones added.

The compounding impact of the economic climate has led Wesgroup to debate cancelling housing projects that have been in development for three to four years. Housing completions will start “falling off a cliff”, and affordability will continue to worsen, Jones said, if the problems raised in the video are not addressed.

Wesgroup’s stance is similar to opinions from the Royal Bank of Canada and RSM that urged speeding up the permitting process and standardizing building codes.

Wesgroup’s suggestions for housing affordability

Wesgroup’s remedy for the problems include ending the current ‘grandparenting’ of regulations. A project mid-stream should not be subject to changes made during its development, Jones said. A moratorium on policy changes should be applied, he suggested, and such updates should be less frequent than, in some cases now, on an annual basis.

He also pushed to revisit the infrastructure delivery model, arguing the federal government needs an active role as local governments cannot handle such scale.

Wesgroup’s point, Jones said, is not to advocate for relaxed environmental and safety regulations. There is no crisis of unsafe housing, he said, but the frequent alterations have only worsened the ability of developers to deliver more, and more affordable, housing.

“How is system we have working for us right now? Is it getting housing delivered? Are we seeing results from it?” he asked critics of the main thrust of the video.

The suggestions he laid out could cut home sale prices by tens of thousands of dollars, Jones believes.

Wesgroup is hopeful the message will get through. Jones said the video has already resonated and stimulated “really good conversation” on the topic.

The company is looking at releasing follow-up pieces and publicizing data to illustrate the challenges the housing construction industry is facing.