Sunday, December 21, 2025
ADVT 
National

90% of B.C. communities adopt province's plans for more small-scale housing

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 25 Jul, 2024 01:57 PM
  • 90% of B.C. communities adopt province's plans for more small-scale housing

Almost all British Columbia communities have adopted the provincial government's plan to tackle the housing crisis by allowing more multi-unit homes on properties. 

The province says nearly 90 per cent of 188 local governments have followed the legislation that would allow for row homes, triplexes and townhouses on former single-home lots. 

It says in a statement that 15 communities have asked for extensions to the June 30 bylaw deadline, while the District of Wells and the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality have been granted extensions because of recent or current wildfire evacuations. 

The government says the District of West Vancouver — where some of B.C.'s most expensive properties are located — has rejected passing the bylaw, but it has been issued a non-compliance notice and a ministerial order could be issued. 

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon says they're encouraged to see that most local governments have worked hard to adopt the much-needed changes to fix old zoning rules that will deliver the types of homes people need. 

Local governments were required to make changes depending on the location of the property to allow either a minimum of one secondary suite or detached home on a lot, or up to six homes in areas that have frequent transit service. 

MORE National ARTICLES

Canada needs to build 1.3M additional homes by 2030 to close housing gap, says PBO

Canada needs to build 1.3M additional homes by 2030 to close housing gap, says PBO
The parliamentary budget officer says Canada would need to build 1.3 million additional homes by 2030 to eliminate the country's housing gap. The newly released report looks at how many more homes would need to be built restore Canada's vacancy rate to the historical average.   

Canada needs to build 1.3M additional homes by 2030 to close housing gap, says PBO

Deadly shooting in Edmonton

Deadly shooting in Edmonton
Police say an autopsy shows the victim, 56-year-old Buta Singh, died from a gunshot wound. The suspected shooter, who was 49, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound but has not been named. Police say they're checking to see if the shooting is connected to a string of extortion schemes targeting homebuilders in the city's South Asian community.

Deadly shooting in Edmonton

B.C. plans law allowing police to arrest or ticket over school disruptions

B.C. plans law allowing police to arrest or ticket over school disruptions
Premier David Eby says there has been at least 18 such protests at schools, and the law would stop people from blocking access, attempting to intimidate another person or disrupting school activities, such as banging on classroom windows.   

B.C. plans law allowing police to arrest or ticket over school disruptions

Drinking in public plazas for Vancouver

Drinking in public plazas for Vancouver
Vancouver's city council is extending a program that allows people to drink alcohol in certain plazas until May 2025.  The city says the program has gone ahead successfully for four years. 

Drinking in public plazas for Vancouver

1 dead in Victoria stabbing

1 dead in Victoria stabbing
Police in Victoria are looking for witnesses to come forward after a man was fatally stabbed. Officers were called to the scene shortly before midnight last night and found the man suffering from stab wounds.  

1 dead in Victoria stabbing

B.C. doesn't know where all its groundwater is going. Experts worry as drought looms

B.C. doesn't know where all its groundwater is going. Experts worry as drought looms
Growing up on a ranch in the Columbia River Valley, water has always been part of Kat Hartwig's life, and over the years, she's noticed changes. Marshy areas her family used for irrigation or watering cattle are dry, wetlands are becoming "crunchy" rather than spongy underfoot, and snowmelt is disappearing more quickly each spring, ushering in the dry summer months, Hartwig says.

B.C. doesn't know where all its groundwater is going. Experts worry as drought looms