At Planning & Development Committee on October 17th, Council received a report for information on the Housing Needs Report (HNR) Interim Update. The interim requirements will be published to the City’s website as an Appendix to the adopted 2021 Burnaby Housing Needs Report to fulfill the City’s requirements under the Local Government Act. 

The newly developed HNR method from the Province indicates estimates that are significantly higher than the 2021 HNR estimates: 

Between the submission of the current HNR in January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2024 Burnaby has undertaken significant action to reduce housing need including the following: 

• 11,076 net new housing units were completed.  
• 10,228 new housing units are currently under construction as of June 2024.  
• Zoning Bylaw amendments were adopted to permit 3-6 units on single- and two-family lots as required by provincial legislation. 
• Burnaby established the Burnaby Housing Authority which will help to facilitate the development of non-market housing units.  
• Burnaby embarked on the Development Approvals Process Review and introduced many process and technological changes to improve development and Building Permit process times. 
• Burnaby applied for and received funding through the CMHC Housing Accelerator Fund and are utilizing those funds for projects that speed up the delivery of housing. 

Once completed, the 2021 HNR and 2024 interim updates will inform the Burnaby Official Community Plan (OCP) update currently underway. A full HNR update is required by January 1, 2028. Following this update, the HNR will be updated every five years and will be used to inform subsequent OCP updates that are required to occur every five years as well. 

More information can be found in the full report by City staff and the progress update.