British Columbia·NewThe City of Dawson Creek will begin virtual building inspections next month as it continues a months-long search to find a new building inspector, a position that local officials say is becoming harder for B.C. communities to fill.City says temporary virtual inspection services will start Dec. 15 as search continuesMatt Preprost · CBC News · Posted: Nov 28, 2025 10:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 30 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.The City of Dawson Creek says it will begin virtual building inspections in December as it continues a months-long search to find a new building inspector. (Matt Preprost/CBC)The City of Dawson Creek says it will begin virtual building inspections next month as it continues a months-long search to find a new building inspector.The northeast B.C. city says the temporary move to virtual inspections starts Dec. 15, so builders can stay on track as they plan ahead for spring construction.“We need to be able to provide building inspection services to the community,” said Devon Aaroe, the city’s general manager of infrastructure and development.“We want to make sure we have something in place for them, to help them through the winter, so they’re ready to go and when the warm weather hits.”Virtual inspections are becoming a common practice in municipalities and other industries. B.C. Hydro adopted virtual project site inspections in 2020 to support physical distancing during the pandemic. The City of Calgary also launched remote video inspections as a pandemic workaround, and recently reported a nearly 1,300 per cent increase in remote inspections in the first half of 2025, compared to 2024.“Virtual inspections are happening all across the province for all sorts of different things,” Aaroe said. “We’re just in a time where remote work is really finding a foothold, and this is really no different.”We’re taking advantage of technology to bring this service to our community.”WATCH | Calgary seeing huge uptick in virtual inspections of residential, commercial projects:City of Calgary seeing huge increase in virtual inspections for building projectsThe city is seeing a 1,300-per cent increase in remote inspections this year over last, with an average of 1,000 inspections booked per month for residential, commercial and industrial projects.Still, Aaroe says certified building inspectors are hard to come by in B.C., and municipalities are competing for a shrinking pool of candidates. Tight budgets can make it difficult for municipalities to put succession plans in place, he said.”There’s a finite number of building inspectors in the province, and as they retire or move out of the industry, it’s hard to replace them,” he said.”They really only can get the certification through inspecting buildings, which is really only a local government role,” he added. “It’s not enough just to take the test.”The cities of Burnaby and North Vancouver are currently also looking for building inspectors.Trevor Welsh, president of Building Officials Association of B.C., says the organization is trying to grow the pool of inspectors by training tradespeople transitioning from the private sector, and offering interprovincial credentials to those with experience outside B.C.Aaroe says Dawson Creek is actively marketing its vacant position across Canada. While the city’s development services manager is a Level 3 inspector, and has been supporting the workload in the interim, Aaroe said he can’t take on the duties on a full-time basis.”We need to find something that is more consistent with the community and reduces his workload so that he can focus on his other duties,” Aaroe said.Until the city finds a replacement, a third-party contractor will review building and plumbing permits, and conduct virtual inspections as needed. Planning, zoning, and engineering reviews will still be done by city staff, Aaroe said.”The contractor just becomes an extension of our internal staff,” he said. “The professionals that we’ve seen in the city that have that come to us are all highly competent, so I think there’s a lot of trust there that they’re going to be able to deliver, even with virtual inspections. “And if there’s something that we need to go in person, we will.”ABOUT THE AUTHORMatt Preprost is a reporter with CBC British Columbia based in Fort St. John, covering stories focused on the Peace Region and Northern Rockies. Email him at mathew.preprost@cbc.ca
4 months after losing its building inspector, this northeast B.C. city still cant find a replacement
