March 11, 2025

As UDI has previously noted, the Province “… passed a series of legislative amendments collectively referred to as the Local Government Housing Initiatives (LGHI), to encourage a more pro-active approach to planning and zoning …,” in 2023 and 2024. To encourage more widespread pre-zoning, the Province has granted local governments additional development financing and development permit powers, so they do not have to rely on rezonings. 

For example, under Bill 46 - Housing Statutes (Development Financing) Amendment Act, the Ministry provided local governments with the ability to charge Amenity Cost Charges (ACCs), so they did not have to rely on rezonings to obtain Community Amenity Contributions (CACs). Last week, the Ministry released an Amenity Cost Charge Best Practices Guide to assist local governments in implementing ACCs. It includes: 

• An overview of ACCs;
• How they should be developed, including –  
  • Steps to determine and set them;
  • Consultation processes;
  • Financial feasibility testing; and  
  • Coordinating them with Development Cost Charges (DCCs), inclusionary zoning and density bonusing;  
• Waivers, reductions and exemptions;
• In-stream protection/grace periods;  
• In-Kind amenities; and
• Reporting on and monitoring ACC programs.  

The Ministry also released a Provincial Policy Manual: Tenant Protection Bylaws last week. Under Bill 16, the Housing Statutes Amendment Act, 2024, a municipality (except for the City of Vancouver) can establish “… a new type of Development Permit Area (DPA) for tenant protections...,” as well as “… create Tenant Protection Bylaws (TPBs) and require compliance to the TPB via the development permitting process.” This authority was created so local governments did not have to rely on rezonings to protect tenants impacted by redevelopments.  

The Policy Manual outlines: 

• The protections that local governments can include for tenants in TPBs (e.g., Right of First Refusal, financial compensation, “… and financial assistance to find and relocate to comparable replacement units);”
• How TPBs do not replace or override tenant protections in the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA), and how compensation payable to a tenant under the RTA must be deducted from the amount payable to them under a TPB;   
• How municipalities can designate Tenant Protection Development Permit Areas, so tenant protections (and TPBs) can be implemented through the development permit process;
• How they can prepare TPBs, including key issues that should be considered (e.g., financial feasibility/viability of redevelopment and the use of Tenant Relocation Coordinators);  
• How local governments and regional districts can mandate that builders redeveloping rental units provide Development Approval Information “… on tenants who are or may be displaced by a redevelopment;” and  
• How the TPBs work with other Provincial LGHIs such Transit-Oriented Areas, inclusionary zoning, density bonusing, DCCs and ACCs; and  
• Compliance mechanisms for TPBs through Bylaw enforcement (it is noted that the Residential Tenancy Branch cannot enforce TPBs). 

On March 7, the Province also released Comprehensive Guidance on Inclusionary Zoning and Density Bonusing. UDI will provide more information on this update in the next Federal/Provincial newsletter, to supplement previous updates on the UDI website.