BC Conservatives pledge to return housing decisions to municipalities
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Premier-elect Lorne Doerkson says his government will restore local control over density, repeal rigid provincial housing targets and push back against the outgoing NDP’s heavy-handed planning mandates.
The incoming provincial government of British Columbia, led by Premier-elect Lorne Doerkson, plans to shift authority over neighbourhood density back to municipal councils, potentially undoing key housing measures imposed by the previous NDP administration. Doerkson has said the province will remove the housing targets set under Bill 43 and amend Bill 44 to give municipalities more control over small-scale, multi-unit housing in traditionally low-density areas.
Bill 43, the Housing Supply Act, required municipalities to meet five-year housing completion targets and allowed provincial intervention if progress lagged. Bill 44 mandated that cities permit secondary suites, laneway homes and other multi-unit dwellings without a separate rezoning process. Bill 47 established Transit-Oriented Areas that required higher-density housing near SkyTrain stations and bus exchanges. The new government intends to repeal or modify these statutes while still expecting municipalities to meet overall growth goals.
"Local governments aren’t a branch office of Victoria. They’re the people who get the call when the water main breaks, when the shelter is full, and when the fire is coming over the ridge," a Conservative Party spokesperson told Daily Hive Urbanized, adding that the premier-designate will treat municipalities as partners.
"Every community in this province needs to grow, and local governments will be held to the plans they’ve made for that growth. But where density goes, and what it looks like, should be decided in Terrace by people from Terrace and in Kelowna by people from Kelowna," the spokesperson continued.
The party’s broader platform includes lower construction taxes, faster approvals, revisions to the B.C. Step Code and Building Code, and the restoration of seniors’ property-tax deferral terms. It also proposes scaling back the Metro Vancouver Regional District’s responsibilities, expanding transit projects, and reverting the George Massey Bridge plan to a 10-lane bridge instead of the NDP-proposed immersed tunnel.
Former NDP housing minister Ravi Kahlon warned that rolling back the legislation could repeat past shortcomings in providing affordable options for young families. He cited examples of residents building four-plexes and sharing triplexes as evidence that the existing multi-unit provisions were helping keep families together.
Municipal leaders have expressed mixed reactions, noting that while they welcome greater local input, they also face challenges such as market demand, high borrowing costs and construction labor shortages that affect housing delivery beyond zoning rules.