Vancouver’s Chief Housing Officer Mukhtar Latif is no longer working for the city.
A statement released Tuesday afternoon by city manager Sadhu Johnson said “the City of Vancouver has made a change to how it implements affordable housing in Vancouver to meet its vision for a resilient, diverse and connected city where everyone has a place to call home.”
“As part of that transition, Mukhtar Latif, who has served as the Chief Housing Officer (CHO) and CEO of VAHA, is no longer with the City of Vancouver, nor CEO of VAHA.”
Johnson goes on to thank Latif, who has been with the city since 2013, and highlight the former CHO’s accomplishments:
“… Mukhtar took on the responsibility of directing Housing Policy and Projects for several years, supporting the development of significant affordable housing policies, such as family housing and the development of an Aboriginal housing strategy. As CEO of VAHA he brought innovative building solutions to Vancouver, such as modular housing and got 1,000 units under development.”
Luke Harrison will serve as interim CEO of VAHA.
In addressing the leadership changes, Johnson says the “VAHA remains a major delivery agent to get affordable housing on the ground in the city.”
“Having worked in the role of Senior Planner at VAHA, Luke led a team of Project Directors and Development Managers to develop market and affordable rental housing on City of Vancouver land. Luke brings extensive experience in business development and acquisition activities to generate affordable housing. There are multiple developments underway and VAHA’s board and staff will remain focused on delivering them.”
No other details have been released at this time.