Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 02 Feb, 2024 01:50 PM
The City of Surrey is launching a three-year plan to boost the number of new housing units to an average of more than four thousand per year.
A statement from the City of Surrey says the plan is enabled by 96-million-dollars in federal funding.
The plan aims to increase new unit delivery in the city by almost 28 per cent.
The statement says Surrey plans to improve the development processes for higher-density multi-unit housing projects and adjust zoning in areas around rapid-transit lines.
British Columbia was the first to sign on, inking a $3.2-billion deal in July 2021 with plans to create 30,000 new child-care spaces within five years and 40,000 within seven years. B.C. started a $10-a-day program at select facilities in 2018 and plans to double those spaces to 12,500 this month.
It boosts annual salaries for new teachers as much as $8,500 by the end of the third year while B.C.'s highest-paid educators will earn up to $13,500 more over the same period, which Johnston says pushes them above the $100,000-per-year threshold for the first time.
Arctic outflow warnings have been posted for B.C.’s central and northern coasts, with the wind chill predicted at minus 20. Special weather statements are also up for most of Vancouver Island and the south coast, with icy conditions and wind chills near minus 10.
The coroner says the October statistics show that illicit drugs caused the deaths of 1,827 people in B.C. in the first 10 months of this year. Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe says the increased toxicity and variability of street drugs has created an environment where everyone who uses substances is at risk.
Several crashes blocked the Alex Fraser Bridge, one of the main arteries over the Fraser River. The route was closed for hours in both directions over safety concerns, the government said.
32-year-old Baljit Singh Nijjar of Surrey has been charged with multiple firearms charges including unauthorized possession of a prohibited/restricted firearm and possession of a prohibited/restricted firearm without a license.