The proposed 60-unit seniors' rental project in Harrison Hot Springs. (Image Credit: Get Into It Harrison! / Website)

By Alyssa Conti

Housing Delays

BC Housing delays Agassiz-Harrison seniors’ rental project, cites provincial budget pressures

Feb 21, 2026 | 8:51 AM

HARRISON — Low-income seniors in Agassiz-Harrison have not been sheltered against the sweeping effects of the province’s contentious budget plan for 2026.

On February 17, the Agassiz-Harrison Community Services (AHCS) received a statement from BC Housing saying all applicants to the Community Housing Fund would not be proceeding or advanced due to “2026 provincial budget and financial pressures”, impacting “hundreds” of projects across B.C. 

The fund was part of a $3.3 billion planned investment to build over 20,000 affordable rentals in B.C., and is among many public services facing cuts in the 2026 provincial budget plan.

“It’s going to put pressure on the family caregivers, people who should be in the workforce, who are now caring for that senior,” said Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt on delays in care-home construction. “And it’s also going to create a situation where the seniors are not getting the kind of care they should be.” 

One project includes a proposed 60-unit seniors’ housing project to be built on six of 19 parcels on the Village Lands, and, with the Village not planning to fund construction, agencies were relying on a $21 million investment from the Community Housing Fund.

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“While this is disappointing news, AHCS continues to be committed to affordable housing for the region in response to the Housing Needs studies undertaken for the Village of Harrison and District of Kent,” wrote the AHCS in a release. 

Seniors’ housing has been a continuing priority in the area, with adults 65 and up representing 26 per cent of the District of Kent and over a third of the population in Harrison Hot Springs, according to 2021 Census data. 

In 2012, the Fraser Valley Regional District also found that 21.2 per cent of seniors in the Village are in core housing need.

The AHCS is now seeking additional funding and will submit applications to other BC Housing calls as appropriate.