How New Provincial Housing Legislation is Unfolding in the City
The Provincial Government has enacted legislation aimed at increasing the supply of housing within BC. This includes legislation on Transit-Oriented Areas, Short-term Rentals, Development Financing Tools and Small-Scale Multi-Unit housing. This legislation was adopted in November 2023. The City must now update its regulations to align with the legislation.
What This Means to You
The City has reviewed the legislation and identified the affected properties, which will have changes applied through new regulations by the Provincial deadline of June 30, 2024. More details are outlined below.
If you have an active development application and wish to discuss what these changes mean to your project, please contact your Planning File Manager directly or email the Planning department at planning@cnv.org.
Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing
The legislation requires that the City amend certain zones to allow 3, 4, or 6 units on each lot. For the City, these zones include duplex zones (RT-1 and RT-2), as well as approximately 100 site-specific comprehensive development zones. All of these properties will be rezoned to align with the legislation by the Provincial deadline of June 30, 2024.
The City will bring forward draft zoning regulations for the affected properties for Council consideration in May 2024, with final adoption anticipated in June 2024 to meet the Provincial deadline.
At this time, the City’s existing regulations remain the same until the new regulations are adopted by Council.
Transit Oriented Area (Lonsdale Quay)
The City is preparing a bylaw to designate the area around the Lonsdale Quay Bus Exchange as a Transit Oriented Area, as required by the Provincial legislation. The bylaw will be brought forward to Council for consideration by the Provincial deadline of June 30, 2024. For questions, please email
planning@cnv.org.
Timeline
The City will be undertaking the required updates to meet the Province’s prescribed timelines:
- June 30, 2024 – Updates to bylaws and regulations for Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing and Transit Oriented Areas
- January 1, 2025 – Development of an Interim Housing Needs Report, estimating housing needs for a 20 year timeframe, to be completed by the City in accordance with new Provincial methodology
- December 31, 2025 – Updates to Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaws to align with the finalized Housing Needs Report
Provincial Resources
The Province has released Policy Manuals to provide further information on the implementation of the legislation.
To learn more about the Province of BC’s housing initiatives, please visit the following websites: