The municipal election is on October 17, 2026, and construction needs to be at the centre of the conversation.
Build Lower Mainland is a non-partisan campaign focused on the construction related economic issues shaping the future of housing, infrastructure, and development across our region: the cost to build, the time to build, and the people needed to build.
And we’ve hit the ground running.
Bringing industry and municipal leaders together
We officially launched the campaign on July 21 with a candid conversation featuring Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley, and Impact Public Affairs President Huw Williams.
The discussion explored the opportunities in front of the Lower Mainland, the challenges holding projects back, and how industry and government can work together to build the housing, infrastructure, and communities our region needs.
More importantly, it set the tone for the campaign. Build Lower Mainland is about moving beyond talking points, getting the right people in the room, and finding practical ways to get more built.
Taking the conversation to the candidates
Even before the official campaign launch, VRCA began bringing construction priorities directly to municipal leaders. In June, we met with candidates of ABC Vancouver to discuss rising costs, permitting and approval delays, workforce pressures, infrastructure investment, and the value of bringing construction expertise into municipal decision-making.
Since the launch, we have continued meeting with municipal candidates and parties. Our initial outreach has focused primarily on Vancouver, with plans to expand the conversation across the Lower Mainland.
Most recently, we attended a OneCity Vancouver event, where we introduced Build Lower Mainland to mayoral candidate William Azaroff and his campaign team and discussed the future of housing, infrastructure, and construction in Vancouver. We will build on that conversation through a dedicated Build Lower Mainland roundtable in the coming weeks.
We also hosted Vancouver Liberals mayoral candidate Kareem Allum and council candidate Devin Clemens for a roundtable discussion at the VRCA office.
The conversation covered the issues our members face every day:
- Rising construction costs
- Slow and complicated approvals
- Workforce pressures
- Infrastructure investment
- Fair and open procurement
- Getting contractors paid on time
- Bringing construction expertise directly into City Hall
During the discussion, we encouraged Mr. Allam to make construction a clear part of his election platform. This included addressing the complexity of Vancouver’s building regulations, consulting directly with industry, and ensuring any proposed changes provide greater clarity and certainty without creating unintended consequences.
These conversations are not endorsements. VRCA does not support or oppose municipal candidates or parties. Our role is to ensure candidates understand the realities facing construction and consider those realities as they develop the policies that will shape what gets built.
Giving voters and members the facts
Build Lower Mainland is also about helping our members, candidates, and the public better understand what is at stake.
Our campaign Stat Pack brings together key facts about construction’s economic impact, the regional project pipeline, permitting delays, rising costs, and workforce pressures. It provides a clear snapshot of the industry and what it will take to keep building across the Lower Mainland.
This election cannot be defined by promises alone. Every commitment to build housing, transit, hospitals, schools, and community infrastructure depends on whether projects can be delivered affordably, predictably, and with the workforce available to do the job.
This is only the beginning
Over the coming weeks, VRCA will continue meeting with candidates and municipal leaders across the region. We will release new campaign content focused on Cost to Build, Time to Build, and People to Build, share candidate perspectives, and create more opportunities for the construction industry to be heard.
Municipal Election Day is October 17. Between now and then, we will keep asking the questions that matter:
- How will candidates address the rising cost of construction?
- How will they make approvals faster, clearer, and more predictable?
- How will they help build the workforce needed to deliver their promises?
The conversation is underway, but it is only getting started. Join the conversation. Be part of what comes next.