Vancouver must address housing affordability or we could miss out on the tech boom: Hootsuite founder

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A lack of affordable housing in Vancouver could hurt the city’s growing tech sector, claims a prominent local tech entrepreneur.

The founder of Hootsuite has written an editorial outlining his concerns in the Financial Post.

In his opinion piece, Ryan Holmes claims young people are leaving the city because of expensive housing and companies are having trouble convincing people to come here due to the situation.

Tech executive Michael Tippett runs the company Wantoo and says affordability is something that local industry leaders are concerned about.

“Affordable housing is obviously critical to anyone’s ability to stay and live in Vancouver, and the fact that it’s expensive to have a home here whether you’re renting or buying makes it difficult for people to start companies,” says Tippett. “In those instances, you’re having to invest capital to start things up, and that’s a challenge.

“It poses a problem from people who are coming to the city from other places in Canada or from the States because it’s so expensive to live here.”

But Tippett says he’s glad the issue is now being discussed more publicly.

“I don’t think there’s a simple solution to it,” he explains. “My view, is that it’s not going to be solved simply on the supply side. There are things that need to be done on the demand side to curb speculation, and I think until we’re able to do that, it’s going to continue to be a problem.”

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