New BILDCR leader is strong on Calgary

As Calgary and region continues to grapple with population growth, housing affordability pressure and the need to accelerate new housing development, a new leader has stepped into the role of CEO at BILD Calgary Region, sparking a new direction.

Amie Blanchette assumed the role at the beginning of July, taking the reins from Brian Hahn, who held the position for eight years. Blanchette is strong on Calgary and the surrounding region, and describes herself as a driven leader with a leadership style that is “authentic, present and collaborative.” Honed by years of experience with the Canadian Home Builders’ Association-Calgary Region (which amalgamated with Urban Development Institute-Calgary 10 years ago to form BILDCR) and most recently with the City of Calgary, Blanchette brings to the table expertise on both the municipal and industry sides of the development process and deep experience in planning, development, government relations and association leadership, along with a clear understanding of the issues that industry members are navigating every day.

As such, she is well-positioned to build stronger, more constructive partnerships with both government and regional stakeholders. And that bodes well for BILDCR, a 600-company member organization comprised of land developers, residential home builders, renovators, suppliers, skilled trades and consultants that serves as the industry’s unified voice and advocate.

The Herald sat down with Blanchette to get her take on issues currently facing the industry.

Q: What do you see as the biggest challenge facing residential builders and developers right now?

A: I would suggest market uncertainty combined with ever-changing policy environment. There’s obviously little we can do locally to control the largest economic forces at play — whether it is tariffs, immigration levels or mortgage rates, which can all have a significant impact on the industry and affordability overall. I would suggest that on the policy and approvals side, we do need to get to a place of greater predictability and certainty and that is where BILD can play a more influential role.

Q: What is the one issue facing the residential construction and development industry that you think is being underestimated?

A: It’s land supply and the time that it takes to move land through planning and the approvals processes to bring on new communities. Calgary has really experienced several years of really strong housing starts and growth and I think that success, although worth celebrating, can really mask how quickly development-ready land can be absorbed. So much of the land right now within Calgary’s current boundaries may be planned, but not yet serviced and ready for development, and it will take time to bring that through the process. We need to be having that longer-term conversation about how the city and the region accommodates that. The region also needs multiple sources of housing supply. This is not just about new growth; it is also about redevelopment. We can’t just talk about one or the other.

Q: What do you see as the biggest barriers to building more attainable and affordable housing right now?

A: The biggest barriers right now haven’t changed much. It still comes down to cost, time and uncertainty. The city’s housing strategy acknowledges that housing outcomes are influenced by economic factors, demographics, market and policy. Infrastructure, capacity, construction and market demand, financing costs — all of these things are influencing whether development is economically viable and whether it will even proceed into an approvals process. And then once you’re there, there can be so many conflicting policy objectives and regulatory requirements. Navigating and resolving those challenges, significantly adds to the time that it then takes to bring that project through planning to construction. In the end, that lack of clarity and misalignment creates delays and adds costs to development.

Q: Where do you think governments are getting housing policy right, and where are they getting it wrong?

A: When government gets it right, it’s because they spent time collaborating with the partners who are impacted to ensure that the programs work as intended. I can say there are successful examples in Calgary — certainly the downtown residential conversions, Centre City Enterprise District and just recently the Industrial Incentive Program come to mind. It’s heartening to see housing as the priority of all orders of government and the resulting momentum to get funding in place to enable it, but I would also say that we need to take a more holistic view of policy and regulatory requirements. In my opinion, if we could just get back to those first principles — what do we want, where do we want it and let’s get clear on what is essential to get us there. It’s really about understanding the layering of costs on development that have happened over time through contradictory policies and then looking at where those can be trimmed or eliminated.

Q: How do you decide which issues deserve the association’s political capital and resources? In your opinion what is top and front?

A: I think that’s the challenge for every organization and particularly for industry associations. We really do have to be disciplined about where we focus our time and resources. The issues that rise to the top are generally those that have the broadest impact on our members, particularly on housing delivery and affordability and where BILD can bring meaningful expertise and help achieve a practical outcome. We can’t do everything. Right now, I would suggest housing supply really does remain front and centre. That means looking beyond any single policy and focusing on the full housing delivery system.

Q: What role does the association play in addressing public concerns about growth, density, development and community change?

A: BILD does have an important responsibility to contribute informed practical, constructive perspectives to conversations about how our city grows and changes. Growth and development can raise legitimate questions and concerns for residents. Our role is to bring industry expertise to those discussions and to provide context. For example, what factors shape that development — it might be infrastructure requirements, regulatory requirements, costs, market conditions, all of those things need to be brought into the conversation, so that we can help improve understanding of those challenges and trade-offs that Calgary will continue to experience as it continues to grow.

Q: What do you think the association’s most important role should be when it comes to government and public policy?

A: BILD needs to bring an informed, practical, on-the-ground industry perspective to policy and decision makers. Policies can look effective on paper, but our members understand how they translate into real world impacts on approvals, construction, infrastructure costs and ultimately housing delivery. We want to work collaboratively with government to support high-quality development that Calgary can be proud of and to determine how we can reduce increases to costs and complexity and how we can streamline time lines.

Q: Where do you see the greatest opportunity for the industry over the next few years?

A: There are tremendous opportunities for collaborations to find innovative solutions to the challenges we face today, whether it’s new housing forms and/or construction approaches using and leveraging advances in technology. These kinds of things are going to completely change our industry. So, how do we bring that all together and find better ways to deliver housing that fits the variety of needs of our region? It’s about taking risks and being bold. Calgary has always been a city that embraces innovation and growth. If we continue to think creatively and work collaboratively, then we can create more housing choice, while maintaining the quality of life that makes this region so attractive.