Bill 44 encourages housing density to meet the long-range needs of B.C.
communities by:
• Requiring municipalities to allow two to four housing units per single-family
lot where the population is over 5,000, or as many as six housing units on
selected lots near highly used bus stops;
• Prohibiting public hearings on residential rezonings that are consistent with
the municipality’s Official Community Plan (OCP); and
• Requiring cities to plan for and zone 20 years’ worth of projected housing
needs – this includes existing and future housing needs as communities
grow.
Ultimately, this will provide developers with better certainty. Proactive long-range
zoning combined with the elimination of public hearings on residential projects
that already meet the OCP diminishes the risk of changing goal posts late in
the development process.
By shifting the focus of public engagement into the early stages of planning,
public guidance on a project can be integrated before too many components
have been set into motion.
Because a proactively zoned community reduces spot rezoning processes,
which would normally allow for amenity fees and voluntary contributions, Bill
46 creates the Amenity Cost Charge (ACC) to address the long-term needs of
the community.
This new tool will likely work in a similar way to the existing Development Cost
Charges (DCCs). In this case, the ACC is based on the 20-year plans that
municipalities create to determine the charge for new development in a way
that accounts for the benefit to new and existing residents separately.
Bill 46 also expands the ability of DCCs to fund fire protection, police, solid
waste and recycling facilities, and portions of certain highway facilities.
Enables municipalities to use their bylaw authority to mandate certain
requirements that were previously only available through the rezoning
process, specifically:
• Inclusionary Zoning (Zoning Bylaws for affordable and special needs
housing);
• Density Bonuses (Conditional Density/Density Benefits Zoning);
• Tenant Relocation and Protections (Tenant Protection Bylaw);
• Offsites (Works and services requirements); and
• Transportation Demand Management (TDM).
These changes could facilitate pre-zoning on a wider scale and provide more
transparency around municipal requirements.
Bill 44
Bill 16
Bill 46
Housing Statutes
(Residential
Development)
Amendment Act, 2023
Housing Statutes
(Development
Financing)
Amendment Act, 2023
UDI Annual Report 2023-2024
Provincial Policy
This Bill identifies 104 Transit-Oriented Areas (TOA) within 400 to 800 metres
from major transit exchanges across the province. Within the TOAs, local
governments are expected to:
• Consider the provincial guidance on heights and densities when
updating or amending zoning bylaws;
• Not reject applications brought to Council based on height and density
alone; and
• Remove minimum parking requirements to allow developers to decide
parking needs based on each project.
This framework takes place in two phases, with 52 areas where planning
has already begun taking effect immediately, and the remaining 52 areas
requiring designation by their municipalities by the end of June 2024
Housing Statutes
(Transit-Oriented Areas)
Amendment Act, 2023
Housing Statutes
Amendment Act, 2024
Bill 47