One measure was introduced by Coun. Dan Boyd whereas the other two came from city staffers With the weather warming up and building season well underway, three new initiatives have launched in Whitehorse in an effort to help builders. Last year’s building season was plagued by backlogs in issuing permits. Since then, the city has been working on avoiding a similar situation. The building and plumbing bylaw was changed in January to help spread out the workload for city staff. Three new initiatives have been introduced in recent days: one approved at council April 28, and two implemented by city staff without needing council approval (pre-approved designs and e-permitting). The city is now accepting model designs from home builders and developers as part of their pre-approval program. The program will allow builders and developers to get model designs pre-approved so that they can be repeated on multiple lots in the city. The program will also speed up permit issuing, as per the city’s notice on the matter. Models that are currently being accepting for pre-approval include single homes and duplexes. Townhouse models are not yet part of the program. All plans must demonstrate compliance with the National Building Code. The pre-approval process was actually a recommendation from a report that came out in the aftermath of the 2024 permit backlog. John Vogt is a local builder who has been vocal in speaking to council about issues that builders in Whitehorse face. He told the News on April 30 that it is likely these housing designs would be well scrutinized by the city, and likely better built. There may be the concern that the houses will be cookie-cutter and monotonous, said Vogt. “I don’t know that that’s real concern right now, if you look around Whistle Bend, there’s a lot of houses that are all the same, already being built,” he said. Another thing the city has been working on for a while now is e-permitting, which eventually replace paper applications for permits come January 2026. The e-permitting system launched on April 29. Applicants are able to apply for a permit online, and also check the status of their application at any time once submitted. Vogt told the News he is optimistic that e-permitting will help to speed up permitting in the city. “Just the fact that it’ll allow us to kind of track timelines and where things are at will be useful,” he said. “Because right now, you submit a permit, and if you want to know where you’re at, you have to call the office and then they have to go dig around, and they often can’t tell you where it’s at or how long it’ll be.” That said, Vogt said he is unsure that the e-permitting will be the “silver bullet” to fix the permitting process in the city. Councillor Dan Boyd has also been introducing measures to city council aimed at helping builders in the city, such as amending the Building and Plumbing Bylaw in March. His most recent motion, if supported by other councillors, could cost the city up to $50,000. The motion would allow the city to provide guides on some building items like ledger boards for exterior decks, snow stops on metal roofing, and nine-foot walls on permanent wood foundations and tall walls. The move comes as the new National Building Code requires more engineering, according to Boyd’s motion. The building guides would only be for common or simple aspects of building plans. The initiative is meant to be simple, said Boyd. “We would have guides developed that would say, if you follow this guide, you’re good to go,” he said. Boyd said he wants to ensure that builders in town are not being chased over to the handful of local engineers that will work on these sorts of things. “It slows everything down, and it’s expensive, and those costs get passed on to home purchasers and the cost of our housing,” he said on April 28 when introducing the initiative. The guides will not eliminate the requirement for engineering on small buildings, said city manager Jeff O’Farrell. However, he said, the motion has the potential to reduce the extent of engineering required on common construction. “What this motion should do is is produce detailed guides to build within part nine that would reduce the extent to which engineers are required on commonly constructed elements of a home,” said O’Farrell. Part nine refers to a portion of the National Building Code focused on housing and small builds. Councilor Paolo Gallina spoke in favour of the guides. “We’ll acknowledge that many other provinces provide similar building guides to support their construction industry, and this motion brings Whitehorse more in line with some best practices that have proven effective elsewhere,” he said. The motion passed unanimously. City staff will bring forward a budget amendment in the coming weeks to address the cost of making and providing the guides. Contact Talar Stockton at talar.stockton@yukon-news.com
City of Whitehorse introduces raft of measures aimed to help builders
