Housing Vancouver strategy: Three-year action plan

Priorities driving our actions

We are prioritizing actions and policy to focus on several key objectives because we believe it’s where we can see the most impact to create real change in Vancouver.

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  Shift toward the right supply of housing

  Housing that meets the needs of those who live and work in Vancouver.

  We will:

  • Implement the Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Program
  • Launch a Social Purpose Real Estate Incentive Program
  • Identify opportunities for deeper affordability and to encourage the right supply through new and existing policies, programs, and plans
  • Enable new opportunities to evolve low-density areas through creative ground-oriented, infill, and low-rise options and to transform low-density areas near transit corridors and neighborhood centres
  • Ensure that adequate shares of new housing are designed to meet the needs of families and people with mobility challenges, disabilities, and other populations with specific accessibility needs
  • Integrate Indigenous design principles into a wider variety of housing options
  • Explore opportunities for new tenure models that encourage security of tenure and community building
  • Develop a new Affordable Housing Delivery and Financial Strategy  (740 KB)
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  Address speculation 

  The rising cost of land impacts the cost of housing and hurts our ability to build affordable rental housing.

  We will:

  • Launch new planning policy to evaluate and stabilize land values
  • Explore opportunities to zone for rental tenure in certain areas of the city to prioritize new rental housing
  • Implement Canada’s first Empty Homes Tax
  • Implement short-term rental regulations

  We will continue to work with the provincial and federal governments on the broader tax and financial regulatory environment for housing to help stabilize land values for a more balanced and equitable real estate market. This includes exploring several possible actions such as:

  • A speculation and flipping tax
  • Increases in provincial Property Transfer Tax on luxury properties
  • Restricting property ownership by non-permanent residents
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  Support renters and vulnerable residents

  More homes for all, and more support for the households in Vancouver who rent their homes – over half of all Vancouver households.

  To support renters to access housing they need and can afford we will:

  • Encourage development of new rental homes along transit corridors and new transit stations
  • Strengthen our Tenant Relocation and Protection Policy
  • Accelerate replacement of SROs with self-contained social housing
  • Work with senior government to initiate a $200 million SRO Revitalization Fund
  • Request funding to build 1,200 units of temporary modular supportive housing
  • Partner in the development of a 10-year Indigenous Housing Strategy
  • Enhance City capacity to address renter impacts of renovations and redevelopment
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  Increase housing options

  Allow more housing choices to accommodate a broad range of incomes, occupations, and households at all stages of life across the city. 

  We will:

  • Increase housing variety and affordability through new community planning programs
  • Launch the Making Room Housing Program
  • Review city-wide regulations to implement zoning changes starting in 2018
  • Launch a Laneway Housing Program Review
  • Investigate regulatory changes and further incentives for diverse new developments
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  Cut through the red tape

  We are working to simplify and streamline building and development approval processes.

  We will:

  • Complete a review of City regulations to simplify processes
  • Onboard new staff to reduce processing times and improve services
  • Amend our approach to Community Amenity Contributions  (1.5 MB) on new 100% rental buildings
  • Expedite approvals for rental housing
  • Implement the Social Housing or Rental Tenure program to reduce processing times for 20 affordable housing projects