Telus looking at turning dozens more telecom properties into housing, following B.C. announcement

Telus Corp. has a vision of turning abandoned telecommunications properties into places for people to live. To that end it is taking a telephone exchange in British Columbia that is no longer in use and is turning it into a residential property. “The whole vision behind Telus Living is to take underutilized properties that Telus owns, so institutional properties; look at a simplification of the network that is on it, and then try to pivot the lands to a higher and better use,” Manasweeta Bhatia, vice president of real estate and business continuity for the telecom, tells The Wire Report. The telecom is working with LPI Management Ltd. to turn Vancouver’s Point Grey exchange into a building that will have 55 rental units and four retail spaces as part of the company’s Telus Living division. Bhatia expects the new building to be open by July 2027. The company is also working on development of units in Nanaimo and Sechelt in the province, hoping to deliver 254 rental properties by next year. Another 18 Telus properties across B.C. will be added to the list over the next six years, which could raise the number of homes to 3,000. The program is in the process of being extended to Alberta and Quebec, with Bhatia expecting to eventually include Ontario buildings. “Every province will need a bit more of a nuanced approach because the tenant needs in each province and the rental income thresholds are a bit diverse so we want to make sure it’s not a one-size-fits-all across the country,” she offers. “We understand the communities’ needs, we study them first, we look at what the housing needs of that community are.” Telus has 2,300 properties of various sizes that have outlived their usefulness. Not all are big enough for residential redeployment but the VP hopes that a sizable chunk will make the cut. “What we hope to do, and we have done over the past few years, is streamline out of those 2,000 plus properties about 10 per cent or 200 properties that would have either big development or disposition potential,” she states, allowing that some property may be sold. “We don’t believe that all of them will make it through the redevelopment phase but even if we say the first 80 or 100 make it through, then we’re looking at residential redevelopments on each of these properties.” One of the goals is to make the new units affordable housing. Telus and LPI will work with local authorities to devise the thresholds for renters. “We would be looking at setting the rent thresholds to a working household income,” Bhatia explains. “A number of the provinces have declared what would be a one-bedroom working household income so we hope that our rent thresholds come in at 30-35 per cent of that.” Telus will be able to offer a full range of services to residents; home phone, internet, television, home security, smart locks, and smart thermostats are just some of the products the company will provide. Consumers will be able to save money by bundling those services. Some renters may prefer to have another telecom provider. That will be permitted, the firm avows. “The buildings as regulated by the CRTC are open to all providers,” Bhatia says. ppark@thewirereport.ca

Telus looking at turning dozens more telecom properties into housing, following B.C. announcement

Telecom |
By Paul Park
|November 18, 2025

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Telus looking at turning dozens more telecom properties into housing, following B.C. announcement

Telecom | By Paul Park |November 18, 2025

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|November 18, 2025