3 of 10 B.C. municipalities under provincial housing mandate hit 1-year target
CBC
Victoria, Delta and the District of North Vancouver were able to meet or exceed provincial quotas under new rules giving the B.C. government oversight of local housing, while other communities came close and some lagged.
The province announced housing targets for an initial 10 communities under its Housing Supply Act in September of 2023, which sets out the total minimum number of net new housing units that must be completed each year over a five-year period.
Net new means new units that are ready for move-in, minus units that were lost through demolition.
The measure was one of several initiatives from the NDP government in the last parliament under then Housing Minister Ravid Kahlon meant to address the province's housing crisis.
At the time, the ministry said the Housing Supply Act would lay "the foundation for tens of thousands more homes to be built faster in areas with the greatest needs" and cited a rate of 38 per cent beyond what was previously projected for the 10 communities.
Each community was assessed its own specific targets using a methodology that included the municipality's own most recent housing-needs report.
Victoria was the most successful after year one, building a net 1,477 units, more than double the 659 required by the province and 30 per cent of the five-year target.
In its progress report, it provided a list of "supportive actions" which helped, such as a missing middle housing initiative, funding to support non-market rental housing and fast-tracking approvals for certain projects.
The City of Delta and the City of North Vancouver achieved 109 per cent and 100 per cent of the one-year provincial guidelines, respectively.
Delta's mayor says the 561 net units it brought online, above the 514 required, was all to do with "strong efforts" to approve projects at all stages of development.
"Consensus with council to ensure that we removed a lot of blockages that had been happening over many, many years," said George Harvie. "We streamlined really, really well and had a really good response from our staff."
On the other side of the ledger, West Vancouver and Oak Bay fell short, only hitting 26 and 29 per cent respectively of required net units.
Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch said his municipality has developments in the works — the responsibility of just four staffers — that balance the province's demands and the character of Oak Bay.
"What we don't have is completions to occupancy," he said of the 16 net units it had residents move into, below the province's demand for 56.
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