The decision that the council makes regarding the FortisBC "Workforce Accommodation" will have a large impact on the livability of Squamish over the next few years.
If council denies the temporary use permit FortisBC has applied for, it will not do anything to stop the project, and it will send the already desperate Squamish rental housing market into overdrive, making it even more difficult for staff and would-be residents, even the well-paid ones, to find a place to call home in Squamish.
Construction on the Fortis pipeline will be commencing soon and will peak in 2024-2025 with up to 600 non-local workers based in Squamish. If a majority of these workers stay in housing provided by Fortis, then the impact on our rental market will be minimal.
Overall, the Woodfibre LNG project and the Fortis pipeline are likely to see $6 billion in spending.
For comparison, for those who remember, the Sea to Sky Highway project was a $600 million dollar project over about six years spread between West Vancouver and Whistler.
The WLNG/Fortis projects will spend 10 times more than that, mostly in Squamish. Sure, some components are coming from Asia, and some of the engineering is being done in Texas, but the pipeline, in particular, will have to be shipped here, moved into place, and welded together by workers staying in the area.
Those of us that were here from 2003 to 2009 remember the impact the highway had on our town. In 2003, Squamish was far from booming. Resource industries were struggling or winding down, and tourism and condo construction were not going full tilt like they are now.
In 2003 you could find an apartment or house to rent at a reasonable price. However, as the highway construction ramped up, rents skyrocketed due to both workers on the highway project and other workers in town bidding up rents to what we thought were astronomical rates at the time. The WLNG/FortisBC project is many times bigger, and without dedicated workforce accommodations provided by the employer — if employees are given a housing allowance and left to find their own accommodations in Squamish — the Squamish rental will go from difficult to impossible for many.
By all means, Squamish council should work with Fortis to ensure safety is paramount for everyone and, ideally, negotiate a community amenity contribution that often accompanies a rezoning such as this.
Saying "NO" to the Fortis accommodation proposal will not stop the project. Fortis BC and its subcontractors will book up hotel rooms and short-term rentals to start, and those who are working on the project for a while will be in a position to outbid almost any worker in Squamish for any suite or house rental.
Saying "NO" to the Fortis proposal will only make our affordable housing and rental crisis much worse than it already is.
Some on Squamish council may feel that they have to do everything they can to stop this project, but the decision to build Woodfibre LNG has, for better or worse, been made, and there is no sign that it will be changed after eight years and two different NDP premiers. They can't stop it, but they can avoid making the rental housing crisis in Squamish even worse than it is.
Gord Addison is a digital marketing professional who has lived in Squamish since 1996. He ran for a seat on council in 2022.
