A B.C. retirement home owner, developer and operator is calling for federal party leaders to make purpose-built seniors housing development an election issue.

In an interview with Connect CRE Canada, Tanya Snow, director of Bria Communities, said the asset type needs to get more attention from the candidates.

Snow noted that purpose-built seniors housing faces a shortfall of 170,000 units by 2038. Seniors need advice and other help as they contemplate downsizing and eventually moving into retirement homes, she said.

The next federal government must also address the impact of U.S. tariffs on material costs and the need for incentives like tax credits, lower development cost charges and reduced red tape to encourage new developments.

“It often gets overlooked, but one of the things that is happening right now, especially for people that want to downsize that can’t is, it’s hard for people to get out of their homes,” she said.

“One of the articles that was recently published about aging in place, it shows just one side of what people want, and people don’t really understand what independent seniors housing is all about and the benefits to them. So for sure, we want to basically look at housing stock and see if some of that can be freed up through incentives for people to move out and leave it for next generations, and that might mean refundable tax credits or incentives to help people downsize.”

Bria, owned by Century Group and Nicola Wealth, is finding it difficult to undertake new development projects due to high construction costs and delays.

“We have not been able to make the numbers work,” she said.

Seniors housing development is largely unaffordable currently, because independent living operates primarily on a private-pay model, she added.

“There is a huge gap between living independently and assisted living, which does have [public] funding,” she said. “Generally, it’s given down at the provincial level. But there needs to be [federal] incentives for builders to build seniors housing, and there just isn’t that right now, other than some recent G.S.T. breaks.

“But [the funding rules] have to say that the [money] is specifically for purpose-built seniors housing. It’s not affordable for us right now to build anything new. Even if the G.S.T. is taken away for rental housing stock, we need to look specifically at senior-living stock.”

Demand for new product is sufficient, but new development has been slow due to previously higher interest rates and no funds being earmarked for purpose-built seniors housing, she said.

“When you start looking at what a developer could make on the basic rental stock versus seniors housing stock, that’s where the gap is,” she said.

“And, that’s why we’re looking for opportunities for developers to do seniors housing that allows them to have some reductions in overall costs in whatever way, whether it’s a mortgage rate or whether it’s [development] incentives. I mean, G.S.T. [relief] is a great one, but it’s [about] getting that thing built, and there’s a lot of delays, and we’re just not going to have enough stock.”

The market barely has enough stock as it is now, she added.

“Now, most of us are starting to run at well over 95% occupancy,” she said.

She called for the federal funding mechanism to include redevelopment projects as well as new builds, and wants the next government to speed up development timelines.

Bria also wants to see the parties make seniors housing a priority in policies and programs.

But Snow believes that federal leaders will give little air time to seniors housing between now and the April 28 election.

“I don’t think they’re thinking seniors housing in any way,” she said.

Pictured: Bria-owned Sunridge Gardens seniors residence in Langley, B.C.

Photo: Courtesy of Bria Communities

Be there on May 28 | Toronto: Canadian CRE leaders will be at Connect Canada on May 28^th to discuss where the CRE market is headed for the second half of 2025 and beyond. Get the experts’ insights into the challenges and opportunities facing the industry and learn from the leaders who are driving Canadian CRE forward. www.ConnectCanada2025.com | May 28, 2025 | Malaparte, Toronto