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Vancouver's social housing initiative

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Making Vancouver more inclusive and equitable is a key priority of Vancouver Plan, the city’s long-term land-use strategy. Vancouver’s Social Housing Initiative works toward the critical need for affordable housing by simplifying and changing zoning regulations to allow for mixed-income social, supportive, and co-operative housing to be built without a rezoning in all Vancouver neighbourhoods.

Taking direction from Vancouver Plan’s approved land use vision, this initiative would permit non-profit and government organizations to build social housing buildings from 6 to 18 storeys, depending on neighbourhood type, with a focus on areas close to transit and commercial centres. New buildings will have the opportunity to include local serving retail and childcare alongside social housing.

These proposed changes would allow social housing projects to be built faster with less cost, giving priority to providing homes for people who need them most and working toward maintaining diversity in the city.

Learn more:

Next steps:

The first phase of public engagement has now concluded. It was open between September 18 and October 22, 2024. We are now compiling feedback and making policy revisions before providing a public update in Q1 2025, and bringing the proposal to City Council for a decision in late Q2 2025.


Making Vancouver more inclusive and equitable is a key priority of Vancouver Plan, the city’s long-term land-use strategy. Vancouver’s Social Housing Initiative works toward the critical need for affordable housing by simplifying and changing zoning regulations to allow for mixed-income social, supportive, and co-operative housing to be built without a rezoning in all Vancouver neighbourhoods.

Taking direction from Vancouver Plan’s approved land use vision, this initiative would permit non-profit and government organizations to build social housing buildings from 6 to 18 storeys, depending on neighbourhood type, with a focus on areas close to transit and commercial centres. New buildings will have the opportunity to include local serving retail and childcare alongside social housing.

These proposed changes would allow social housing projects to be built faster with less cost, giving priority to providing homes for people who need them most and working toward maintaining diversity in the city.

Learn more:

Next steps:

The first phase of public engagement has now concluded. It was open between September 18 and October 22, 2024. We are now compiling feedback and making policy revisions before providing a public update in Q1 2025, and bringing the proposal to City Council for a decision in late Q2 2025.


CLOSED: This discussion has concluded.

Do you have a question about Vancouver’s Social Housing Initiative?

We would like to hear from you as we finalize the proposal. We will use this page to provide project updates and ask for your comments on the proposal. Please note, City staff will aim to provide a response to your question within 3 business days of your submission. 

Note that your username and question may be shown publicly. To share your thoughts anonymously, or ask a question about the initiative, please email us at: housingpolicy@vancouver.ca . 

  • Share You’ve said existing parkland will not be considered under this plan, specifically hasn’t committed to keeping the existing trails. Which is weird because an extension to the trail system is part of the active mobility plan. So what is the plan? on Facebook Share You’ve said existing parkland will not be considered under this plan, specifically hasn’t committed to keeping the existing trails. Which is weird because an extension to the trail system is part of the active mobility plan. So what is the plan? on Twitter Share You’ve said existing parkland will not be considered under this plan, specifically hasn’t committed to keeping the existing trails. Which is weird because an extension to the trail system is part of the active mobility plan. So what is the plan? on Linkedin Email You’ve said existing parkland will not be considered under this plan, specifically hasn’t committed to keeping the existing trails. Which is weird because an extension to the trail system is part of the active mobility plan. So what is the plan? link

    You’ve said existing parkland will not be considered under this plan, specifically hasn’t committed to keeping the existing trails. Which is weird because an extension to the trail system is part of the active mobility plan. So what is the plan?

    Makr asked 2 months ago

    The City has heard considerable feedback regarding the trail system in Champlain Heights and we will be discussing this matter with our project team, our colleagues on the ecological plan, and senior planners to discuss the issues raised over the next several weeks. The proposal will consider inputs from parallel work on implementing the Vancouver Plan’s Ecological vision to determine how the two projects intersect. 

  • Share Why not along cambie on Facebook Share Why not along cambie on Twitter Share Why not along cambie on Linkedin Email Why not along cambie link

    Why not along cambie

    Trev asked 2 months ago

    This proposal is an implementation action of Vancouver Plan, which outlines the Neighbourhood Centre and Village areas subject to this initiative. The proposal includes 2 areas on or adjacent to Cambie: 

    • A Neighbourhood Centre between W 16th and W 23rd Avenues 

    • A Village between W 29th and W 37th Avenues 

    The Cambie Corridor Plan (2018) also enables social housing both through City-initiated rezoning and as part of comprehensive area and site planning. For more information, please see the full plan. 

  • Share Is this kind of house available for buying or just for renting? on Facebook Share Is this kind of house available for buying or just for renting? on Twitter Share Is this kind of house available for buying or just for renting? on Linkedin Email Is this kind of house available for buying or just for renting? link

    Is this kind of house available for buying or just for renting?

    Raissa Melina asked 2 months ago

    This initiative is restricted to non-market rental and co-operative housing development, not market ownership housing.  

  • Share Doesn’t Council require current residents especially the city property tax payers approval before going ahead with such a project? - What are the costs? - How will this affect home owners taxes? - Long term planing of the city surely should be taking into account the future livability of Vancouver. - Densification of Vancouver and possibly lowering livability needs collective decision making. on Facebook Share Doesn’t Council require current residents especially the city property tax payers approval before going ahead with such a project? - What are the costs? - How will this affect home owners taxes? - Long term planing of the city surely should be taking into account the future livability of Vancouver. - Densification of Vancouver and possibly lowering livability needs collective decision making. on Twitter Share Doesn’t Council require current residents especially the city property tax payers approval before going ahead with such a project? - What are the costs? - How will this affect home owners taxes? - Long term planing of the city surely should be taking into account the future livability of Vancouver. - Densification of Vancouver and possibly lowering livability needs collective decision making. on Linkedin Email Doesn’t Council require current residents especially the city property tax payers approval before going ahead with such a project? - What are the costs? - How will this affect home owners taxes? - Long term planing of the city surely should be taking into account the future livability of Vancouver. - Densification of Vancouver and possibly lowering livability needs collective decision making. link

    Doesn’t Council require current residents especially the city property tax payers approval before going ahead with such a project? - What are the costs? - How will this affect home owners taxes? - Long term planing of the city surely should be taking into account the future livability of Vancouver. - Densification of Vancouver and possibly lowering livability needs collective decision making.

    Alan Siddons asked 2 months ago

    This proposal is an implementation action of Vancouver Plan which conducted a broad-based engagement process over two and half years and four phases to develop the directions we are now implementing. That process reached more than 52,480 engagement touchpoints and received more than 25,000 survey responses from 12 online surveys which were available in 6 languages. It also works towards this Council’s Strategic Priorities (2023-2024) Objective No. 2 to streamline and speed up processes for building non-market housing. 

     The Vancouver Plan Housing Survey, conducted in 2021 (n=2,451) found that:  

    • 76% of survey respondents agreed that we need to prioritize making neighbourhoods more inclusive to low to moderate income households  

    • 77% of survey respondents agreed that all neighbourhoods should have all types of housing (supportive, social, purpose-built rental, condos, houses)  

     As part of the Vancouver Plan engagement, the City hosted hundreds of workshops, including 100 youth workshops, 29 neighbourhood workshops and more than 100 meetings with stakeholder organizations and community groups. We heard unequivocally that residents want specific actions to create more housing, focusing on affordability and working toward an equitable housing system that prioritizes housing for those the need it most. 

    This initiative is restricted to non-market housing developments. Financial testing has shown that this type of housing does not generate land lift due to the depth of affordability required, the requirement for additional funding to be viable such as low-cost loans, and operational funding in addition to whatever charitable donations a non-profit can bring in. Therefore, the initiative is not anticipated to increase land values or have any impact to property taxes, nor is it anticipated to lower land values. 

  • Share Since non- profits are part of this plan, will BC Housing contract and work with non- profits so 30 % of income is workable to maintain costs of repairs and upkeep of these buildings as my experience without BC housing involved like at Brightside non- profits cannot maintain 30% of income as it will not cover maintenance costs of the building on Facebook Share Since non- profits are part of this plan, will BC Housing contract and work with non- profits so 30 % of income is workable to maintain costs of repairs and upkeep of these buildings as my experience without BC housing involved like at Brightside non- profits cannot maintain 30% of income as it will not cover maintenance costs of the building on Twitter Share Since non- profits are part of this plan, will BC Housing contract and work with non- profits so 30 % of income is workable to maintain costs of repairs and upkeep of these buildings as my experience without BC housing involved like at Brightside non- profits cannot maintain 30% of income as it will not cover maintenance costs of the building on Linkedin Email Since non- profits are part of this plan, will BC Housing contract and work with non- profits so 30 % of income is workable to maintain costs of repairs and upkeep of these buildings as my experience without BC housing involved like at Brightside non- profits cannot maintain 30% of income as it will not cover maintenance costs of the building link

    Since non- profits are part of this plan, will BC Housing contract and work with non- profits so 30 % of income is workable to maintain costs of repairs and upkeep of these buildings as my experience without BC housing involved like at Brightside non- profits cannot maintain 30% of income as it will not cover maintenance costs of the building

    dale lutes asked 2 months ago

    While funding for affordable housing though BC Housing and other senior government agencies has increased significantly in recent years, this matter is Provincial jurisdiction via the Ministry of Housing. This initiative will update the City’s zoning to reduce development risk, speed up building timelines, and provide non-profit developers and funders with pre-zoned sites to enable new social housing.  

    The City will continue offering capital grants for non-profit or co-op housing construction through the Community Housing Incentive Program, and pursue senior government partnership and funding for new housing projects and renovations of existing projects on City-owned land. 

  • Share Many co-ops are and have been spending millions of dollars on upgrades to make them last for years. How will this plan effect them? on Facebook Share Many co-ops are and have been spending millions of dollars on upgrades to make them last for years. How will this plan effect them? on Twitter Share Many co-ops are and have been spending millions of dollars on upgrades to make them last for years. How will this plan effect them? on Linkedin Email Many co-ops are and have been spending millions of dollars on upgrades to make them last for years. How will this plan effect them? link

    Many co-ops are and have been spending millions of dollars on upgrades to make them last for years. How will this plan effect them?

    Indigo asked 3 months ago

    Co-ops would be allowed to redevelop to achieve greater height and density under this proposal if they choose to. This decision would be at the discretion of the co-op members.  

  • Share I only know of this initiative because I am on the Shape Your City mailing list. Why do you think your outreach methods are effective for those not on the mailing list? Are you certain that you are reaching all demographics in the Vancouver population with your outreach methods, and how do you know this? Why do you think a city-wide printed mail-out of the initiative summary, which would have reached all residents, would not have been effective? on Facebook Share I only know of this initiative because I am on the Shape Your City mailing list. Why do you think your outreach methods are effective for those not on the mailing list? Are you certain that you are reaching all demographics in the Vancouver population with your outreach methods, and how do you know this? Why do you think a city-wide printed mail-out of the initiative summary, which would have reached all residents, would not have been effective? on Twitter Share I only know of this initiative because I am on the Shape Your City mailing list. Why do you think your outreach methods are effective for those not on the mailing list? Are you certain that you are reaching all demographics in the Vancouver population with your outreach methods, and how do you know this? Why do you think a city-wide printed mail-out of the initiative summary, which would have reached all residents, would not have been effective? on Linkedin Email I only know of this initiative because I am on the Shape Your City mailing list. Why do you think your outreach methods are effective for those not on the mailing list? Are you certain that you are reaching all demographics in the Vancouver population with your outreach methods, and how do you know this? Why do you think a city-wide printed mail-out of the initiative summary, which would have reached all residents, would not have been effective? link

    I only know of this initiative because I am on the Shape Your City mailing list. Why do you think your outreach methods are effective for those not on the mailing list? Are you certain that you are reaching all demographics in the Vancouver population with your outreach methods, and how do you know this? Why do you think a city-wide printed mail-out of the initiative summary, which would have reached all residents, would not have been effective?

    MaryB asked 3 months ago

    The proposal was promoted through a media release, an ongoing social media campaign, media interviews, a video, and direct emails to various groups via public listservs. Additionally, two articles featuring staff interviews were published. 

    This proposal is an implementation action of Vancouver Plan which conducted a broad-based engagement process over two and half years and four phases to develop the directions we are now implementing. That process reached more than 52,480 engagement touchpoints and received more than 25,000 survey responses from 12 online surveys which were available in 6 languages. 

    The Vancouver Plan Housing Survey, conducted in 2021 (n=2,451) found that:  

    • 76% of survey respondents agreed that we need to prioritize making neighbourhoods more inclusive to low & moderate income households.

    • 77% of survey respondents agreed that all neighbourhoods should have all types of housing (supportive, social, purpose-built rental, condos, houses).

    As part of the Vancouver Plan engagement, the City hosted hundreds of workshops, including 100 youth workshops, 29 neighbourhood workshops and more than 100 meetings with stakeholder organizations and community groups. We heard unequivocally that residents want specific actions to create more housing, focusing on affordability and working toward an equitable housing system that prioritizes housing for those the need it most. 

  • Share What kind of external review has taken place regarding this initiative? Have any outside consultants that have a proven track record been involved? Or is this proposal coming directly from staff? If so, which staff members are putting it forward? Just seeking a bit of accountability. on Facebook Share What kind of external review has taken place regarding this initiative? Have any outside consultants that have a proven track record been involved? Or is this proposal coming directly from staff? If so, which staff members are putting it forward? Just seeking a bit of accountability. on Twitter Share What kind of external review has taken place regarding this initiative? Have any outside consultants that have a proven track record been involved? Or is this proposal coming directly from staff? If so, which staff members are putting it forward? Just seeking a bit of accountability. on Linkedin Email What kind of external review has taken place regarding this initiative? Have any outside consultants that have a proven track record been involved? Or is this proposal coming directly from staff? If so, which staff members are putting it forward? Just seeking a bit of accountability. link

    What kind of external review has taken place regarding this initiative? Have any outside consultants that have a proven track record been involved? Or is this proposal coming directly from staff? If so, which staff members are putting it forward? Just seeking a bit of accountability.

    MarxistAwakening asked 3 months ago

    As part of our standard practice, we hired an external consultant to conduct financial testing and determine the minimum building heights required for financial viability.

  • Share Why does the this initiative not follow exiting zoning maximum building heights? why do governments, First Nations, and non profit have a different set of rules in terms of building height? on Facebook Share Why does the this initiative not follow exiting zoning maximum building heights? why do governments, First Nations, and non profit have a different set of rules in terms of building height? on Twitter Share Why does the this initiative not follow exiting zoning maximum building heights? why do governments, First Nations, and non profit have a different set of rules in terms of building height? on Linkedin Email Why does the this initiative not follow exiting zoning maximum building heights? why do governments, First Nations, and non profit have a different set of rules in terms of building height? link

    Why does the this initiative not follow exiting zoning maximum building heights? why do governments, First Nations, and non profit have a different set of rules in terms of building height?

    neighbourhood advocate asked 3 months ago

    This proposal aims to support 100% social housing by allowing taller and denser buildings to make them financially viable. Extra height allowances for non-profit and government sites are needed to develop affordable housing and address the housing crisis. City land use rules don’t apply to First Nations reserves within city limits. The proposed height limits are based on recent social housing projects, where 15 to 18 storeys were necessary for economic feasibility, depending on the site. 

  • Share where in Champlain Heights would the building occur? on Facebook Share where in Champlain Heights would the building occur? on Twitter Share where in Champlain Heights would the building occur? on Linkedin Email where in Champlain Heights would the building occur? link

    where in Champlain Heights would the building occur?

    LizH asked 2 months ago

    Non-profit and government owned property would be eligble for residential non-market housing development under this proposal. Existing parks, schools, community centres and cemeteries are not proposed for rezoning for social housing under this proposal.

Page last updated: 24 Oct 2024, 10:50 AM