July 3rd, 2024

On June 18th, 2024, the Ministry of Housing released guidance for Local Governments on how to calculate their Housing Needs Reports (HNRs). Local Governments are required to complete an interim HNR using the new standardized framework by January 1, 2025, then the first “regular” report will be required by December 31, 2028, and every five years afterwards.    

The new standardized framework requires that Local Governments include the following six components in their HNR: 

1. “Supply of units to reduce extreme core housing need (those paying more than 50% of income for housing); 
2. Supply of units to reduce homelessness; 
3. Supply of units to address suppressed household formation; 
4. Supply of units needed to meet household growth over the next 5 or 20 years; 
5. Supply of units needed to meet at least a 3% vacancy rate; and, 
6. Supply of units needed to meet local demand. This component is only included for municipalities.”  

The Ministry is also developing a calculator to streamline the process for Local Governments to determine how many units their communities will require over the next 5- and 20-year periods. These reports will help inform the Official Community Plan updates required to be completed by December 31, 2025, as well as future updates to community planning and regional growth strategies.  

The guidance has been updated on the Ministry’s webpage, this also includes detailed resources: 

• Summary of Legislative and Regulatory Requirements for Housing Needs Reports  
• Housing Needs Report FAQ  
• Housing Needs Report Technical Guidance  
• Housing Needs Reports Data 

On June 19th, 2024, the Ministry of Housing released new regulations specifying certain classes of affordable housing that will be exempt from paying Amenity Cost Charges (ACCs). This was accompanied by updated interim guidance. 

The types of affordable housing now exempt are listed on P. 10: 

• “Rental units that will be owned or leased and operated by: 
• government entities, including the Federal and Provincial governments, local governments, local government-owned non-profit housing corporations, and First Nations; and/or,  
• non-profit housing providers, including societies incorporated under the Societies Act, regional health authorities under the Health Authorities Act, registered charities under the Income Tax Act (Canada), and not-for-profit corporations under the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, that have received funding from a government entity, entered into a housing agreement with a local government, or have a section 219 covenant securing affordability conditions with a local government.  
• Supportive housing rental units that will be owned or leased and operated by government entities or non-profit housing providers, which are units provided to seniors, persons with disabilities, persons experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness, or other individuals who, based on criteria set by the operator, will benefit from on-site supports and services.  
• Non-profit cooperative housing under the Cooperative Association Act , as well as federal non-profit cooperatives as defined in the Canada Cooperatives Act.  
• Transitional housing, which is publicly funded living accommodation provided on a temporary basis to people as part of a program intended to assist them to become better able to live independently.  
• Emergency shelters, which are publicly funded temporary living accommodations that are provided without charge to people who need them.” 

These exemptions are also included in the new Local Government Act (LGA) regulations, and the Vancouver Charter regulations.  

UDI will be seeking clarity from the Province on how these new exemptions interact with other Provincial legislative changes. 
 

April 9, 2024

On the same day, the Ministry of Housing announced Bill 16 - new legislative changes that address many of the items that are currently secured through the rezoning process. These changes are linked to the three bills adopted last fall (Bill 44, 46 and 47). The changes enable municipalities to develop bylaws for the following items:  

Inclusionary Zoning (Zoning Bylaws for affordable and special needs housing)  

• Inclusionary zoning will give local governments the ability to require affordable housing in new developments. 
• Local governments must undertake a financial feasibility analysis to understand how much density is needed to offset the costs to the developer for providing affordable housing. 
• Allows for cash-in-lieu or the provision of affordable housing or a separate site. 

• ACCs cannot be charged on Inclusionary Zoning units. 

   

Density Bonuses (Conditional Density/Density Benefits Zoning) 

• Sets out the process to establish a density benefits zoning bylaw. 

• Does not permit conditional density to be used to meet the heights and densities set out in the TOA regulations.  

   

Tenant Relocation and Protections (Tenant Protection Bylaw) 

• Municipalities will have the ability to enact tenant protection bylaws. Developers seeking to redevelop a building must fulfill the terms of the bylaws to receive a development permit. 

• These bylaws may include measures such as: financial assistance, assistance with finding a new place to live and opportunities for right of first refusal on units in a new building. Municipalities can set specific requirements for these measures individually. 

   

Offsites (Works and services requirements) 

• Provides local governments with expanded authority to require the types of site-specific works and services. 

• Examples of site-level infrastructure include sidewalks, boulevards and crossings, transit bays, street lighting, underground wiring, water and sewer systems, bike lanes, landscaping, street signs, benches, bicycle parking facilities, traffic calming measures, and sustainable design features such as street trees or rain gardens. 

   

Transportation Demand Management (TDM) 

• Enables municipalities to require TDM by bylaw and for items including, but not limited to: EV charging stations, end-of-trip facilities, secure bike parking facilities, and secure scooter parking. 

   

The legislation will enable local governments to establish bylaws that require these items to be provided without a rezoning. 

Bill 16 also sets out the processes that local governments must follow to establish these requirements including consultation and economic analysis, as well as in-stream protections. The Province has reserved regulation-making authority to provide more clarity on how to implement the tools, and could be used in the future to restrict their scope and application. 

March 21, 2024
 

The Ministry of Housing has issued interim guidance on the Development Finance tools in Bill 46 to provide local governments with more clarity on how to start to implement them. More comprehensive guidance is expected late summer/early fall.

The guidance reinforces that projects should not be charged twice to fund the same amenity and that ACCs cannot be collected for infrastructure that is eligible for the DCC program. The guidance also clarifies that municipalities should only consider base densities when developing an ACC program, and that density bonuses cannot be used to fund the same amenity that ACCs are being collected for.

Although the guidance specifies that municipalities can continue to use density bonuses to collect funds for amenities, and these can be applied to developments alongside ACCs, we are still looking for more clarity on how the charges will be layered.

There is also additional direction provided on several topics including:

• Benefit allocation requirement, apportioning costs for new and existing use of an amenity;
• Consultation requirements;
• Instream protections; and
• Monitoring and Evaluation.

The document also outlines Provincial regulatory authority to create additional requirements in the future to address issues.

Overall, this guidance document helps answer some of our questions that we posed to the Ministry regarding Bill 46, however there are still areas where more direction is needed. We’re still seeking clarity on a number of implementation issues and will share any new information as it becomes available. 

UDI has summarized our concerns and questions in a briefing note linked here.

March 13, 2024

On March 8th, 2024 the Ministry of Housing released updated guidance on the Housing Statutes (Transit-Oriented Areas) Amendment Act (Bill 47), regarding transit-oriented areas. The updated policy manual clarifies that, for the purposes of density bonuses, local governments can continue to use existing base densities established in their respective zoning bylaws. This interim measure would apply even when existing base densities are below the minimum allowable densities.

This interim measure is anticipated to be effective until the local government has transitioned to using new proactive planning tools, including Amenity Cost Charges. The Ministry anticipates that this transition will have occurred by mid-2025.

In addition to the updated TOA guidance, the Province also released corresponding Frequently Asked Question documents for Bills 44, 46, and 47. 

• Bill 44: SSMUH
• Bill 44: Pro-active Planning
• Bill 46: Development Finance
• Bill 47: TOAs

UDI will continue to work with its membership, the Ministry of Housing and local governments on how these changes will be implemented and identify any gaps that need to be addressed.

January 12, 2024

In late fall 2023, the Provincial Government adopted several new pieces of legislation related to housing. The legislation provided a framework which could facilitate the most impactful changes the development industry has seen in decades.

In early December, the Ministry released the regulations and policy manuals for Bill 44 and Bill 47. However, there are still many unanswered questions that will determine how these changes are implemented. UDI and our members have already several areas where more clarity is needed as well as concerns regarding aspects of the implementation.

Below we have provided links to the legislation and available regulations and guidelines for each Bill:

Bill 35 – Short-Term Rental Accommodation Act, 2023

• Regulations
• STR Policy Guidance for Local Governments

Bill 44 – Housing Statutes (Residential Development) Amendment Act, 2023

• Guidance and Regulations for SSMUH
• Guidance for pro-active planning

Bill 46 – Housing Statues (Development Financing) Amendment Act, 2023

• No regulations or policy manuals have been released to date for Bill 46
• Summary of changes

Bill 47 – Housing Statutes (Transit-Oriented Areas) Amendment Act, 2023

• Guidance and Regulations for TOAs

Additional Resources:

• Ministry of Housing Resource Hub
• Economic modelling report on SSMUH and TOA scenarios in B.C.
• News release including summaries, timelines for implementation of Bills 35, 44, 46 and 47 – December 7, 2023
• Ministry of Housing presentation on the guidelines for Bills 44 and 47 – December 7, 2023
• Ministry of Housing presentation to CHBA BC and UDI working group members regarding the legislative changes – December 14, 2023

UDI will continue to work with its membership, the Ministry of Housing and local governments on how these changes will be implemented and identify any gaps that need to be addressed. 
 

We will also provide a full overview of the legislative changes in the coming week as part of our new newsletter: the Policy & Advocacy Spotlight.