The dedication of the thousands of people employed by the non-profit housing sector makes a tremendous contribution to affordable housing in British Columbia. However, this sector is increasingly being faced with a number of challenges and without strategies and action plans in place, these challenges can threaten the viability of the sector. Matters relating to human resources are emerging to be of particular importance. An ageing workforce combined with a shortage in supply of experienced recruits means that sector-specific skills and expertise may be lost as older staff and board members retire. A depleting supply of human capital limits the ability to plan for the future, leaving the sector volatile and vulnerable to a changing context, which in turn threatens the sector’s long-term sustainability. Maintaining and strengthening capacities in this area are therefore critical to supporting the healthy functioning of non-profit housing in BC and to bolstering the sector’s ability to continue serving communities in need.
This report is the result of an analysis of staffing issues in BC’s non-profit housing sector, using relevant data from the Asset Analysis Project on staff numbers, employment periods, succession planning, and training. This data was explored through the lens of the Segmentation Framework in order to contextualize these findings within the varying mandates and portfolio sizes of the sector’s societies. The report is intended to identify key human resource capacity issues in the non-profit housing sector in order to support the work of the BCNPHA Succession Planning Task Force, and to support succession planning efforts in the sector more broadly.