Families with children are key to a diverse and vibrant society. Making sure we have the right kinds of housing to support families is important to the success of the city.
We're taking action to ensure new housing meets the needs of families. The Family Room: Housing Mix Policy for Rezoning Projects PDF file (300 KB), requires that new residential developments that are rezoned include a certain percentage of family-sized units such as two and three bedroom units.
This policy raised the targets for family units (units with two or more bedrooms) in rezoning projects from 25 to 35% to ensure Vancouver’s housing stock makes room for families.
The policy applies to rezonings citywide and supersedes any existing family-unit housing mix requirements and targets that are set out in Council-approved plans or policies.
The policy does not apply to, or supersede, requirements and targets for:
Family units included in Council-approved official development plans (ODPs)
Rezoning projects where a Council-approved plan includes an intentional alternate housing mix, such as the Downtown Eastside Plan
Rezoning applications that include any residential strata housing are required to include a minimum of 35% family units (units having two or more bedrooms):
A minimum of 10% three-bedroom units
A minimum of 25% two-bedroom units
Rezoning applications for secured market rental projects are required to include a minimum of 35% family units with two or more bedrooms.
A presentation was given to Council on June 9, 2015, highlighting the importance of families to Vancouver’s economy and community well-being and some emerging policy directions being taken to help keep families in the city.
As part of the Housing Vancouver strategy: Three-year action plan (2018-2020), the family housing policy and guidelines are being reviewed and modernized to improve the supply of family housing and the living experience of families with children at high density.
The update will seek to address today’s family housing design and supply challenges, taking into account the impact of any new requirements on the cost of family homes.
We’ve developed a new framework for tracking and reporting on progress toward the Housing Vancouver targets, which includes data on the supply, affordability, and distribution of family housing.
Relevant feedback from the recent Housing Vancouver and Family Room Policy consultations has been collated and reviewed.
Read the summary of previous consultations
An initial consultation targeted at families living in high density areas was undertaken over spring and summer 2018 to understand the needs, values, preferences, and issues of families in Vancouver.
As part of the Housing Vancouver Strategy, we’re exploring approaches to affordable home ownership in Vancouver. A new consultant study PDF file (9 MB) looks at affordable home ownership programs in other jurisdictions. The study focuses on the opportunities and trade-offs of different approaches to affordable home ownership and how they might apply to Vancouver.
