SAANICH – Housing targets for the first 10 municipalities selected as part of the Housing Supply Act have been released, laying the foundation for tens of thousands more homes to be built faster in areas with the greatest needs.

“The housing crisis is hurting people, holding back our economy and impacting the services we all count on,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Housing. “We’re taking action and working with municipal partners to make sure more homes are built in communities with the greatest housing need. The targets include thousands of below-market rental units for the largest and fastest-growing communities. This means more people will be able find a home in the community they love.”

To support implementation, the Province will continue to provide local governments with resources to speed up approval processes, including $10 million for continued implementation of the Development Approvals Process Review, and the Province’s work accelerating and streamlining provincial permitting across multiple ministries and developing a new digital permitting process. This is funding in addition to the $1-billion Growing Communities Fund launched in February 2023 and the recently announced $51 million to support local governments in meeting new density initiatives.

The first 10 municipalities were selected for housing target assessment in May 2023 under the authority of the Housing Supply Act, which allows the Province to set housing targets in communities with the most urgent housing needs. The Province consulted with the selected municipalities during the summer to set the final housing target orders. These housing targets are net new units to be completed within five years.

The target orders for each municipality:

• City of Abbotsford – 7,240 housing units
• City of Delta – 3,607 housing units
• City of Kamloops – 4,236 housing units
• District North Vancouver – 2,838 housing units
• District of Oak Bay – 664 housing units
• City of Port Moody – 1,694 housing units
• District of Saanich – 4,610 housing units
• City of Vancouver – 28,900 housing units
• City of Victoria – 4,902 housing units
• District of West Vancouver – 1,432 housing units

The housing targets put forward by the Province mark a 38% increase in overall housing to be built in these communities over what was projected to have been created based on historic trends.

In addition to the targets, the Province has sent each of the 10 municipalities a list of housing target guidelines, including a recommended number of units by size (one bedroom, two bedroom, three bedroom), rental versus owned units, below-market rental units and units with on-site supports. These guidelines include more than 16,800 below-market rentals.

The analysis took into consideration the total number of units that are needed to address the shortage of housing now and to respond to population growth over the next five years, and while the Province encourages municipalities to work hard to meet the total housing need, the targets have been set based on 75% of that municipality’s identified housing need.

“These targets are a step toward creating more homes to meet the diverse housing needs of Saanich residents,” said Dean Murdock, mayor of Saanich. “We are committed to working together with the Province on housing solutions, and welcome their support to help us achieve our goals.”

Municipalities will be evaluated after six months, and every year thereafter, on their progress toward achieving the housing targets and actions taken to meet the target. The Province will monitor progress and work with municipalities to better understand challenges and opportunities.

Quotes:

George V. Harvie, mayor of Delta –

“As mayor of Delta, I am dedicated to enhancing housing opportunities for all present and future residents of our city. Delta acknowledges the proposed housing targets set forth by the Ministry of Housing and is committed to working collaboratively to achieve our shared objective of ensuring that every individual, regardless of their circumstances, can secure housing. We also recognize the pivotal role that the Province plays in supporting municipalities like Delta. To successfully pursue our housing targets while maintaining a high level of services for our community, we look forward to working with the Province to support continued investments in infrastructure and other critical areas. Together, we can make meaningful progress toward our housing goals and enhance the overall quality of life in our tremendous community.”

Ken Sim, mayor of Vancouver –

"Vancouver is ready to take the lead on building new housing. We have said getting homes built requires an all-hands-on-deck approach and we are pleased to see clear support from the Province to build the homes that we need to tackle the housing crisis head on. The City of Vancouver is fully committed to do what it takes to make sure we have attainable housing for everyone who calls our city home." 

Quick Facts:

• A second cohort of eight to 10 municipalities will be selected and notified in late 2023.
• The act includes compliance options that can be used as a last resort if municipalities are not aligning their efforts to achieve housing targets.
• The Housing Supply Act is part of the Province’s Homes for People action plan to deliver more housing for people, building on B.C.’s $19-billion housing investment and the introduction of effective tools to tackle speculation and increase the number of rentals.

Learn More:

For a backgrounder with detailed housing target guidelines:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/HousingTargetGuidlines.pdf

To review the Housing Target Orders for each municipality, visit:
https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/content/mo/mo/2072830161/?xsl=/templates/browse.xsl

To learn about the housing supply act, visit:
https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/bills/billsprevious/3rd42nd:gov43-1

To learn about the Housing Supply Regulation, visit:
https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/oic/oic_cur/0328_2023

To read the Homes for People action plan, visit:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/Homes_For_People.pdf

To learn about the Growing Communities Fund, visit:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023PREM0015-000254

To learn about new capacity funding for local governments, visit:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023HOUS0058-001488

Two backgrounders follow.

In May 2023, the Housing Supply Act came into force to help increase the amount and pace of new housing by giving the Province authority to set housing targets for 47 municipalities.

The Ministry of Housing has committed to review 16 to 20 municipalities for housing target assessment each year to address supply and affordability of housing. The ministry consults municipalities to understand community housing needs and set targets with careful consideration for local planning and land use. 

The Province is prioritizing housing targets for municipalities that are experiencing the greatest housing pressures. Each group of municipalities is selected using an empirical index: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/Selection_Index_Indicators.pdf

The first 10 municipalities were announced in May 2023 and consulted during July and August of this year. Another eight to 10 municipalities will be announced this year.

The Province has issued housing target orders for the first 10 municipalities by ministerial order, 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.

Housing targets will be measured after the first six months, then annually by net new units completed and actions taken by the municipality to meet the targets. If the cumulative annual housing target has not been met, the municipality will be required to submit planned actions they will take within two years to meet the target.

If a municipality has not met a target and is not making satisfactory progress toward meeting the housing target, the minister of housing may appoint an adviser and/or issue a directive. The adviser’s role would include reviewing the actions, policies, practices and progress of the municipality toward meeting the target.

The Province’s estimate of a municipality’s housing needs is compared to a municipality’s most recent housing needs report. Targets are set at 75% of the higher of the two estimates. Municipalities are encouraged to achieve 100% of the total target to ensure they are meeting their community’s housing needs.

The Province’s estimate is based on a standardized methodology that counts how many units are needed to address the shortage of housing today and to respond to population growth over the next five years. This approach relies on data from publicly available sources, including BC Stats, Statistics Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

A. Supply to address extreme core housing need; plus

B. Supply to permanently house people experiencing homelessness; plus

C. Supply to address suppressed household formation; plus

D. Anticipated supply needed over the next five years, plus

E. Adjustment to restore rental supply to a healthy vacancy rate of 3%; equals

Province’s estimate of 100% of housing supply needed.

This approach relies on data from publicly available sources, including BC Stats, Statistics Canada, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and the Integrated Data Project (IDP) for Preventing and Reducing Homelessness.  

Component A: Extreme Core Housing Need

By tenure, this measure quantifies housing needs for households for a select community. Data for 2021 from Statistics Canada and data for 2006-2016 is available through the custom data provided for local government Housing Needs Reports through the Ministry of Housing. 

Due to lower rates of core housing need in 2021 due to the impact of Canada Emergency Response Benefit on core and extreme housing needs, calculating an average approach provides a reasonable estimate of extreme core housing need.

Learn More: 

Statistics Canada's Core housing need and extreme core housing need data is available online: 
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810024701&pickMembers%5B0%5D=1.1&pick

Impact of Canada Emergency Response Benefit on core and extreme housing needs:
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220721/dq220721b-eng.htm

Component B: Homelessness

Component B estimates homelessness in the select community. There are data limitations to quantifying homelessness through any method and homelessness levels can vary between communities for a variety of reasons. This approach allocates homelessness proportionally among communities in a region, ensuring that each community works toward creating housing to support this population.

Regional homelessness data as captured by the Integrated Data Project is applied to the select local government based on its proportion of the regional population. 

Component C: Suppressed household formation

This methodology adjusts for a higher household formation rate (through adjusting “headship rates”) in a community using a previous baseline year (i.e., 2006) to reduce any suppressed households in 2021. A headship rate is defined as the ratio of the number households of a primary household maintainer age to the total population of an age group, which indicates the likelihood of household formation in each of the age groups.

Component D: Household growth

A range of household growth is projected using two growth rate scenarios: the Local Growth Rate Scenario and the Regional Growth Rate Scenario. Household growth is projected for 2023 to 2028. The median of the two scenarios informs the anticipated units component of the total housing needs estimate.

Component E: Vacancy rate adjustment

This component accounts for the number of units required to bring the vacancy rate to 3% in communities where the vacancy rate is currently below that level. The calculation for determining the supply needed to account for vacancy rate adjustments uses CMHC vacancy rates in the primary rental market to estimate the number of vacant rental units (across both primary and secondary rental markets).