With a new Council now in office, the Town of Creston wants to give residents clear, factual information about the Town's relationship with the Creston Valley Housing Corporation (CVHC) and the corporation's first project on Cedar Street.
The CVHC is a separate legal entity from the Town of Creston. It was incorporated in September 2024 under British Columbia's Business Corporations Act, with the Town as its sole shareholder. The Community Charter allows municipalities to own corporations like this one, and the Province's Inspector of Municipalities approved the CVHC's structure before it was incorporated. The CVHC owns its own assets, signs its own contracts and carries its own obligations.
Council does not manage the CVHC's day-to-day operations or projects. An independently appointed Board of Directors does that work. The Board has 11 Directors:
- seven Independent Directors, recruited from the community for their skills in areas such as housing, development, finance and law
- three members of Town Council
- one Town staff member
Council's decisions about the corporation are made in its role as shareholder. Council appoints the Directors, approves certain major matters set aside for the shareholder, and monitors whether the corporation is achieving the mandate Council gave it. That mandate is to help provide suitable, attainable and sustainable rental and ownership housing in a financially prudent way that supports economic and workforce development.
Publicly owned corporations are a well-established tool for local governments in British Columbia. Municipalities use them to run utilities, as the City of Nelson does. They also use them for airport authorities, economic development and housing. Whistler and Tofino both use housing corporations to address local housing needs.
Owning a corporation is also not new for Creston. The Town has been a shareholder of the Creston Valley Forest Corporation since the early 1990s.
During the recent municipal election, there was a lot of speculation in the community that the Cedar Street housing project puts the Town at risk.
"Council does have choices in how the corporation operates, including who sits on its Board," said Mayor Denise Dumas. "But the reason the previous Council set up the corporation was to take on Creston's difficult housing challenges without putting the Town at legal or financial risk. Our role as the new Council is to monitor the corporation's progress toward its mandate of delivering new housing units."
Mayor Dumas stressed that this distinction matters. "The corporation is not under Council's direct control. It has a Board of Directors to guide its operations and projects. Our first order of business is to appoint a new Board of Directors within the first 180 days of our term. That Board will include three members of Council who will represent the Town's interests."
The CVHC has hired an experienced Project Manager to guide its first project. This is a mixed-use development with a 110-space childcare facility and a 50-unit apartment building.
The CVHC is financing the project through private borrowing. The CVHC, not the Town, is the borrower, and the Town has not guaranteed the loan. This means the borrowing does not place direct risk on the Town of Creston or its taxpayers.
Despite claims on social media, the project is not over budget. It has been delayed slightly because moving utility services depends on when FortisBC is available. This delay has not created significant financial pressure on the project.
Construction costs are more in the winter, so starting the foundation in early spring will actually alleviate some budget pressures on the project. The Board will use this extra time for additional value engineering. This means reviewing the design and building methods to make sure the project gives the community the best value.