The Architectural Foundation of British Columbia has written to the Province of British Columbia to express our concerns regarding the proposed application of Provincial Sales Tax (PST) to architectural and other professional design services.

At first glance, a mutual recognition agreement for architects may appear to be a technical professional matter — the sort of regulatory update that interests licensing bodies, firms, and internationally mobile professionals. But the newly expanded pathways between Canadian architects and their counterparts in the United Kingdom and Europe deserve to be understood in a much larger context.

BC Housing's new Digitally Accelerated Standardized Housing program promises to build more homes, faster. But as housing becomes increasingly standardized, prefabricated and digitally designed, architects have a bigger question to ask: what happens to architecture?

CMHC's new Prefab Plus initiative is about more than expanding mortgage insurance—it signals a broader shift toward industrialized construction in Canada. As financing, manufacturing, and design become increasingly connected, architects have an opportunity to rethink their role in shaping the future of housing delivery.

While the Villages Plan may not have moved forward in its proposed form, the questions it raised about housing, walkability, and neighbourhood change remain central to Vancouver's future. Our latest thought piece examines what the process reveals about the evolving role of architects in shaping cities.