Despite provincially-mandated housing targets and rezonings, CMHC reports Greater Victoria’s 105 housing starts in January 2025 are 42% lower than the 182 starts in January 2024.
In fact, this year is the lowest in 5 years: January 2025 – 105; 182 in 2024; 463 in 2023; 286 in 2022; 216 in 2021.
BC govt and municipal officials claim housing supply is improving despite evidence to the contrary. These claims are not credible and reveal poor policy execution by the province. They have enabled municipalities to charge astronomical fees and added regs undermining the viability of housing projects.
Greater Victoria’s housing starts last year were down 16% according to CMHC. From January to December, housing starts were 4,185 vs 4,992 during the same period in 2023.
The BC govt’s housing targets have been in place for well over a year and appear to be having no impact in most municipalities. Ironically, BC’s Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon is focused on Sooke refusing to adopt the province’s mandatory rezoning legislation, while he ignores massive declines in other municipalities, including zero starts in Metchosin and Highlands. Sooke’s housing starts were up 24% over last year.
The City of Victoria housing starts declined 54% from 964 last year to 439 this year. Many other municipalities also declined: Oak Bay 31%; Sidney 54%; North Saanich 39%; View Royal 44%; Esquimalt 79%, Central Saanich at 78%. Metchosin and Highlands had zero new homes in 2024.
As usual, forty-one per cent of all new housing in the CRD was in two West Shore municipalities – Langford at 1,506 up 7% and Colwood – 535, an increase of 76%. In January 2025, the two municipalities represented 51% of all new housing in the CRD.
One of the major challenges is the province enabling municipalities to increase fees such as DCCs (development charges) and ACCs (amenity charges) without caps. Victoria and Oak Bay are ratcheting up regulations and fees to obstruct the province’s legislation which is supposed to enable up to 6 units on single family lots.
Victoria increased DCCs 258% and Oak Bay recently approved DCCs and ACCs up to $35,652 per unit for low density residential. For missing middle, which the province is trying to encourage, the charge is $23,188 per unit. They also increased site setbacks and reduced the building height of missing middle housing vs the recommendations in the province’s site standards manual. This manual should be mandatory, not optional.
BC’s housing policy is only political grandstanding without the following:
1. A cap on fees and taxes including Development Cost Charges (DCCs) and amenity contributions.
2. Mandatory site standards outlining suitable setbacks, building heights, etc to make housing buildable and more affordable.
3. Enforced timelines for development and permit approvals.
4. Requiring all municipalities to participate and show results, rather than offloading their housing responsibilities to Langford and Colwood.