Maple Ridge, BC: The City of Maple Ridge will hear from government and community leaders, the development industry and non-for-profit organizations at the City’s first Housing Affordability Summit on Tuesday, May 30 at the Albion Community Centre.
 
Maple Ridge Mayor Dan Ruimy and Council will engage with key partners and the community during two panel presentations in the morning, and in smaller afternoon breakout sessions, to build valuable connections and identify tangible solutions.
 
“Our City Council believes the lack of affordable housing in Maple Ridge and elsewhere can best be addressed by bringing together key people who are closest to the issue and seek their help to inform the city’s future plans,” said Mayor Ruimy. “We’ll be gathering important intel from our panellists on how best to tackle housing affordability and the supply shortage for our residents.”
 
The Honourable Ravi Kahlon, BC’s Minister of Housing will open the summit as the keynote speaker and will also participate in the first panel session on “Government Supports, Programs, Financing and Jurisdictional Best Practices”. He will be joined by Mayor Ruimy, Mike Hurley, Mayor of Burnaby, Jill Atkey, CEO of the BC Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA), Ron Rapp, CEO of the Homebuilders Association Vancouver (HAVAN), and Rick Ilich, Board Vice Chair of the Urban Development Institute (UDI) and CEO of Townline Homes.
 
The second panel will discuss “Effective Partnership Models for Not-for-Profit and Private Sector Developments”. This session will feature Jonathan Cote, Deputy General Manager of Regional Planning and Housing Development for Metro Vancouver, Thom Armstrong of the Cooperative Housing Federation of BC, Community Land Trust Foundation and COHO Management Services, Margaret Pfoh, CEO of the Aboriginal Housing Management Association and two leaders in the development community, Chad Margolus Director of Acquisitions for Morningstar/Polygon Homes and Shawn Bouchard Chief Operating Officer of Lorval Developments.
 
Following the morning panels, summit participants and attendees will be invited to join afternoon breakout sessions, with the ideas discussed gathered and collated to help inform the city’s new directions and policy development regarding housing affordability.
 
The Housing Affordability Summit is the second of three Leadership Summits planned by the Mayor and Council in 2023. The Maple Ridge Climate Action Summit was held in April and an Economic Development Summit to be held in the fall will be announced in coming weeks.
 
For more information or registration details for the one-day Housing Affordability Summit on May 30, visit the City website at www.mapleridge.ca/summit.