Urban planner Vincent Tong has been cemented as the permanent CEO of BC Housing, after more than seven months of holding the top job in an interim capacity.
The provincial Crown corporation’s board of commissioners made its selection this month, revealing it Thursday in a news release from the Ministry of Housing.
“The BC Housing board of commissioners wanted a transformational leader to guide the organization through its evolution, and we found that leader in Vincent Tong,” board chair Allan Seckel said.
“Under Vincent’s leadership, BC Housing has been taking significant steps to strengthen our organizational structure and capacity, financial systems, governance practices, and policies related to oversight, transparency and conflict of interest.”
Tong had previously worked as BC Housing’s vice-president of development and asset strategies, but began acting as CEO in September last year following the retirement of Shane Ramsey.
Ramsey had announced in August that he was stepping down, stating: “I no longer have confidence I can solve the complex problems facing us at BC Housing.”
His retirement came after multiple serious assaults on people in downtown Vancouver, and after being “swarmed by opponents and threatened with physical violence” after a meeting.
“I had to be escorted to a private elevator, for my safety. Security at the City have since advised that after reviewing the video footage, they believe the swarming and threatened punch amounted to assault,” he wrote in a letter posted on BC Housing’s website.
“This time it was angry words and a fist, next time it could be worse.”
BC Housing has come under much fire in recent years.
Half of the organization’s board was fired last spring after a report found roles and responsibilities within the organization were unclear, project administration processes were largely undocumented and did not apply a risk-based approach, and no formalized data governance was in place.
The May report by Ernst & Young auditors made 26 findings and 44 recommendations. It said BC Housing’s organizational structure had resulted in siloed service delivery, its systems were not meeting the needs of “functional areas,” and with 80 to 85 per cent of its services delivered through non-profit housing providers, BC Housing’s manual oversight process was limited.
A few months later, a leaked report outlined extensive mismanagement within a well-known housing provider, Atira Women’s Resources Society, which receives funding from BC Housing.
The report by BDO Canada LLP claimed Atira’s board made decisions based on “incorrect, incomplete or misleading information,” applied “inconsistent accounting practices across the portfolio,” and operated on “assumptions that BC Housing will cover any overages” to its budget. BC Housing and Atira initiated the financial review and it was sent to the non-profit organization on Nov. 7, 2018.Last month, the province also received the results of a forensic investigation into BC Housing, and said it plans to release as much information as possible once adequate notice has been provided to third parties.
Thursday’s news release said that since he began acting as CEO in September last year, Tong has helped improve operations at BC Housing by increasing board oversight of development projects, creating new whistleblower protections, strengthening oversight of housing providers and more.
“I’m honoured to have the opportunity to continue leading the transformation at BC Housing,” Tong said in the release. “This is a pivotal time in B.C. where people are struggling to secure affordable housing.
“I look forward to continuing to work with BC Housing’s dedicated employees, along with our provincial partners, the non-profit housing sector and municipal partners as we work together to address the housing crisis that affects us all.”
Tong spent a decade working at the Toronto Community Housing Corporation and has also worked as a planning and urban design consultant in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for public and private sector clients.
Budget 2023 included $4.2 billion in funding over three years for provincial housing priorities, including operations and services of BC Housing.
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