Background

Over the past year, changes in Provincial legislation regarding housing have laid out significant changes that affect the Infill Housing Project. Although an Infill Housing-like program will still be created, it is now anticipated that the program will largely be determined by the newly required Small Scale Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH) model the Province is now requiring throughout B.C.

Provincial changes

On April 3, 2023, the Minister of Housing unveiled the Homes for People housing action plan with a stated goal to deliver more homes for people, faster. Other communications from the Province hinted at substantial changes to follow in the fall related to a potential requirement of allowing multiple units on existing single-family parcels (i.e. infill housing).

On November 1, 2023, the Province of BC introduced Bill 44 - Housing Statutes (Residential Development) Amendment Act, 2023. On November, 30 2023, Bill 44 - Housing Statutes (Residential Development) Amendment Act, 2023, was passed and came into law. With the new legislation, the Province is exercising new powers: instead of giving local governments authority to make and enforce land use management rules for their communities, it is now imposing very specific requirements on how that authority must be exercised.

Infill Housing Changes

On June 26, 2023, District of Oak Bay Council endorsed the scope of work of the Infill Housing Program Project as outlined in the Project Sign Off document dated May 30, 2023. This next phase was intended to determine the details for the housing options and how to regulate and where to facilitate new housing in the District.

In relation to the District’s Infill Housing Program the new legislation introduced zoning requirements for small scale multi-unit housing (SSMUH). SSMUH refers to a range of buildings and unit configurations including secondary suites/accessory dwelling units (ADU) in single family homes or duplexes, detached garden suites or laneway homes, triplexes, townhomes and houseplexes. This legislation requires that the District adopt zoning bylaws by June 30, 2024, to amend eligible zones (single family residential) to support the development of SSMUH through accompanying policy, regulation and approval processes.

Accompanying Provincial regulations will include additional direction regarding the siting, size, dimension and/or type of housing units, and defining proximity to transit. A Provincial policy manual will include guidelines on best practices for local governments creating and adopting SSMUH zoning.

Consultation and Engagement Changes

Legislative requirements for SSMUH, combined with the regulations and guidance in the policy manual, will dictate many of the implementation objectives that were to be developed through the Infill Housing Program Regulatory Framework. As such, this has pre-empted the Districts Infill Housing Program. Where possible, staff will endeavour to capture aspects from the Infill Housing Strategy where appropriate to suit the Oak Bay context.

Due to the Provincial requirements and timelines, the level of engagement with the SSMUH Zoning Bylaw updates will be limited to informing the public, with limited opportunity for public input.

The District will keep the community informed about the next steps and information meetings will be organized prior to the new program being brought back to Council prior to June 30. Please check back at connect.oakbay.ca for information on the upcoming District’s Housing Action Program.

Funding Acknowledgement

The District of Oak Bay gratefully acknowledges the support of the Province of British Columbia's Growing Communities Fund, which is enabling a significant capacity increase to advance the municipality's ambitious Housing Action Program.