A municipal government report that says British Columbia is building enough homes to match the province鈥檚 population growth has drawn sharp criticism from the housing minister.

The Union of B.C. Municipalities report released Wednesday says the data shows enough homes are being built to match the province鈥檚 growing population, but the numbers of affordable houses and rental properties are lacking.

David Eby, the attorney general and minister in charge of housing, said the report鈥檚 findings that home construction aligns with population growth is at odds with the experiences of people looking to rent or buy homes in the province.

鈥淎t the same time, we have every indicator of a shortage of supply of homes to buy and rent and every indicator of unprecedented levels of in-migration to B.C., the UBCM is issuing a report that says we鈥檙e approving enough housing in B.C.,鈥� Eby said in an interview.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 understand it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 guess I was more hopeful that we would see a report about how municipalities could help to deliver more housing and what they feel the province could do to help them.鈥�

Union president Laurey-Anne Roodenburg said the report finds resolving the province鈥檚 affordable housing crisis is more complex than just telling local governments to increase permit approvals to build more homes.

There are other factors involved in limiting local housing developments beyond municipal approvals and they range from shortages of skilled workers to provincial government red tape, she said.

The report says between 2016 and 2021, B.C.鈥檚 population grew by 7.6 per cent, while the number of homes increased by 7.2 per cent, the largest growth of any province or territory other than the Yukon.

Roodenburg said the report is in reaction to recent comments byEby, who said municipal governments are holding up housing developments in their communities and he鈥檚 preparing to introduce legislation to remove their final project approval powers.

鈥淗e really needs to take a hard look at what he鈥檚 trying to achieve,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he majority of local governments are increasing their housing supplies. They are coming up with innovative ideas.鈥�

Roodenburg said the report calls for a more collaborative approach between the local, provincial and federal governments to build more affordable housing in the province.

鈥淚 think we all do better when we do sit down and try and move this forward,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want bridges burnt here. We just want him to recognize our data tells a different story than what he鈥檚 saying.鈥�

Eby said a meeting Tuesday with Roodenburg offered some hope about finding ways to build more housing, but more work needs to be done.

鈥淢aybe this opens the door for us to identify those ways to work together, but I have to say the context of saying we鈥檙e already building enough housing is very odd to me just knowing what鈥檚 happening in terms of people moving to B.C. and the demand out there.鈥�

鈥� Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press