Housing, Politics

2026 Housing Survey Results

(Part Two of the March 18, 2026 Area B Director’s Report )

By Regional Director Mark Vonesch

When we put out the housing survey I was hoping to get at least as many respondents as two years ago. The more people that participate, the better understanding the Cortes Housing Society and I have about the housing reality for people on Cortes and their opinions of how we should move forward.

I am happy to report we received 100 more submissions than two years ago with 361 submissions in total! Thank you to all of you that filled one out.

I have just released a report with the Cortes Housing Society, which can be found here:
https://cortescommunityhousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Cortes-2026-Housing-Survey.pdf

In addition to the report I want to share some additional thoughts I have about the results:

More than two thirds of the people who filled out the survey were property owners. This aligns with data from the last census, with a slight increase in property owners who filled out the survey this time, compared to two years ago.

New data from this survey shows that there are some people (4.4%) who own a small home and rent a space to put it. Further data below shows there is strong potential to help develop more of these arrangements.

83% of the people who filled out the survey have lived or owned property on Cortes for more than six years. 43% of respondents have been here for more than 21 years.

Twelve people who filled out the survey are not currently housed. The survey from two years ago showed 1.5% of respondents did not have housing so this statistic (3.3%) shows this is a growing challenge for our community.

There is strong support for an empty homes tax on Cortes and to have that funding support local non profit housing projects. I think it’s important to state the current BC empty homes tax (set at 1% of property value) that applies to 24 communities across BC would not work on Cortes.

A 1% of property value tax would mean an average priced empty home on Cortes worth $700,000 would have to pay $7,000 per year to keep their home empty. This would be too much for too many people and we need to find a solution that works for all of us.

Previous data has shown there are approximately 240 homes on Cortes that remain empty for most of the year. As an example, if every empty home paid an average of $1,000/year that could raise over $200,000 for non profit housing every year. To provide some context, the Cortes Housing Society is building two bedroom units for approximately $225,000.

There is more consultation and study to do on this issue and I am committed to working with the SRD Board, the Cortes Housing Society, and all of you to make progress.

All communities larger than 10,000 people now have the primary residence requirement for short term rentals as mandated by the province and this has been part of the reason rents in BC have decreased by 5%. Smaller communities can choose whether to opt-in to this legislation and I have done that for Cortes for the past two years. Approximately 20 other small communities across the province, and most recently Salt Spring Island, have also opted into the legislation.

This question was included in the housing survey for me to understand where our community is at with this choice. The results continue to show support for opting in, however we heard that it is a challenging decision for some property owners, particularly families that have to leave the island to bring their kids to school. Without the option of doing short term rentals it can be challenging to keep their property and maintain a presence in the community and I will be advocating to the province to make this exception.

Folks that support opting in spoke to concerns about Cortes property being purchased to run short term rental businesses, the impact on property values, and the need to focus on housing for people who live and work here. Short term rentals are an important part of our economy and we also heard that the primary residence legislation provides an economic boost to Cortes Island residents who run short term rentals on their property.

The results of this question speaks for itself. Although most of us (69%) have all these amenities in our homes, there are a lot of people who don’t and this data helps us have compassion and take action.

The results from these two question are powerful. Although most property owners don’t have a mortgage, approximately 14% are paying more than ⅓ of their income to their mortgage, of which 3% are paying at least 50%.

Renters are facing a more extreme squeeze with 18% paying more then 50% of their income to rent and 35% spending 33%-50%.

93 people have a room, cabin, house, or spot on their land for a tiny home and would be open to renting it if the conditions were right. That’s a lot of potential housing. There is clear opportunity on Cortes to support property owners so that they feel comfortable and secure in renting their homes or space on their land.

Making land affordable for young people and families is important for the culture of Cortes Island. Opportunities that allow renters to put deeper roots down and contribute to the long term success of our island is vital.

The Cortes Housing Society and I are working on an idea that could provide up to ten plots of land (serviced with power, water, septic, and a road) at a very affordable price. We will be releasing more information about this in the coming months!

Please check out the full report from the 2026 Cortes Housing survey here:
https://cortescommunityhousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Cortes-2026-Housing-Survey.pdf

Thanks for reading all this and for participating in this important survey. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Did any of the results surprise you? Do you have any additional comments or questions you want to share with me?

In service,

Mark

Mark Vonesch
Cortes Island Regional Director
Email: mvonesch@srd.ca
ph/txt: 250-202-4422

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