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  1. Province has amended rules around annual contributions and depreciation reports.

    Condo owners in B.C. face the prospect of significant special levies because of the way strata corporations are funded in the province, says a Vancouver software firm.

    B.C. has lower average monthly strata fees ($470) than Ontario ($650), but B.C. condo owners are at greater risk of special assessments because of their much lower reserve contributions, according to Vancouver-based OctoAI Technologies Corp.

    The average monthly reserve contribution in B.C. is $75 compared to $210 in Ontario, it said. That’s because B.C. requires 10 per cent of operating budgets to be set aside, whereas Ontario links minimum contributions to expected future capital expenditures, said Thomas Beattie, OctoAI’s CEO.

    “We [in B.C.] are undercontributing materially, and that shortfall is made up in the form of special levies or special assessments,” he said. “In Ontario, they are contributing twice as much every month to their reserve fund than we are.”

    Ontario requires condo corporations to contribute an amount “reasonably expected to cover future repairs and replacements” as determined by reserve fund studies, according to Condominium Authority of Ontario.

    OctoAI estimates that in B.C., 135,000 condo owners will face a special levy that averages nearly $7,500 per unit this year, said a report on the company’s Eli Report document review platform.

    Special assessments aren’t all that special in B.C., Beattie said.

    “They should give it a new name, because when we’ve done the math, the average homeowner needs to budget over $2,000 a year, every year for the next decade, towards these fees,” he said, adding that it’s closer to $3,000 for older buildings.

    Every strata corporation must have contingency funds to pay for common expenses that usually occur less often than once a year, or which do not usually occur, says the B.C. government’s website. Starting Nov. 1, 2023, strata corporations were required to annually contribute a minimum of 10 per cent of the annual operating fund to the contingency reserve fund.

    Operating expenses address recurring maintenance that occurs frequently or annually, such as carpet cleaning or roof maintenance. The strata corporation ownership approves these expenditures as part of the annual budget by majority vote and pays for them via strata fees.

    Capital expenditures, on the other hand, are expenses that typically happen less than once a year and are not part of maintenance. An example would be carpet or window replacement. Strata corporation owners generally approve capital expenses at a general meeting separate from the budget approval. 

    Special levies have historically been the most common way of funding capital improvements, said Sean Ingraham, senior vice-president with property manager FirstService Residential (FSR). 

    A strata corporation with a failing roof, for example, would typically get a few estimates for replacement, and the strata corporation would then propose that the owners approve a resolution to pay for it by special levy at a general meeting, with each owner to pay their proportionate share.

    There are many variables. It could be a mixture of using reserve funds and a special levy, and payments could be spread out over multiple months, Ingraham said.

    Depreciation reports mandatory

    Depreciation reports play a key role in forecasting, Ingraham said. They provide the condition of all capital assets and components of a strata corporation, and estimate how long each asset will last until it needs replacement. The depreciation report generally includes different funding models that are typically a mixture of reserve funds and special levies, he said.

    The strata corporation ownership can then create a plan of how much they are going to need in their contingency reserves versus special levies.

    “This gives great insight to potential purchasers and the owners so they can financially plan accordingly,” Ingraham said.

    New legislation was passed last year in B.C. aimed at strengthening depreciation reports for strata corporations. Previously, obtaining these reports could be deferred repeatedly as long as three-quarters of a strata corporation’s owners voted annually in favor of deferral, said a July 23, 2024 article by law firm Lawson Lundell LLP.

    Updated regulations that took effect July 1, 2024 have now removed the option for deferral. All existing strata corporations with five or more strata lots are now required to obtain depreciation reports on a five-year cycle, the firm said.

    New strata corporations established between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2027 must obtain a depreciation report within two years of their first annual general meeting, and new strata corporations established on or after July 1, 2027 must obtain one within 18 months of their first annual general meeting, the firm said.

    “Additional specific content requirements have also been included, in order to help standardize the information which these reports contain,” the firm said.

    FSR’s Ingraham said the provincial government’s efforts to improve strata finances may be working. FSR manages more than 72,000 homes in B.C., and more than 95 per cent of them have depreciation reports versus about 60 per cent three years ago, he said. Contingency reserve funds for FSR clients have also increased over the past two years.

    “Although not all our clients are thrilled with the increase in contingency reserve fund contributions and cost of creating a depreciation report overall, it is improving the financial health of strata corporations in B.C.,” said Ingraham.

    “Long-term, this will reduce the need for many special levies, and aging buildings can be better cared for as funds will be available to address aging strata corporation assets.”

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    By Jami Makan
    23-09-2025

  2. The property sold in just 15 days.

    A stunning lakefront estate in Lake Country has sold for $17.5 million, setting a new MLS record for the highest residential sale ever recorded in the Interior of British Columbia

    The 20-acre property at 16080 Carrs Landing Rd. was listed by TJ & Steph Real Estate Group of Royal LePage Kelowna and Mark Lester of Colliers International.

    It sold unconditionally in just 15 days.

    The previous record was a $16-million waterfront sale in the same area last year.

    “As someone born and raised in the Okanagan, it was very special to be involved in the sale of arguably the most exceptional parcel in the area,” said TJ Dumonceaux, realtor and partner at TJ & Steph Real Estate Group.

    The property includes three land titles, with two on the water, offering 1,700 feet of pristine shoreline in your own secluded bay.

    It features five residences — a main house, three guest houses, and a finished barn — plus a waterfront boathouse, two docks, and a private boat launch. There’s also a tennis court, soccer field, helipad, gym, and orchard.

    “It hasn’t been available on the market for over two decades,” Dumonceaux added.

    “I’m born and raised in Kelowna, and I’ve seen a lot of amazing, beautiful properties — but every time I set foot on that property, it’s truly something special.”

    Mark Lester, senior vice-president at Colliers International, helped market the listing across Canada.

    “I deal with properties all over the province — the Okanagan, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, the Kootenays — and this is just an incredibly special property,'' Lester said.

    “It doesn't matter if it's in the Okanagan or anywhere else. It's an absolutely unique sale.”

    The buyer was represented by Scott Marshall of Sotheby’s International Realty (Hall Cassie Marshall Group).
    By Madison Reeve, Castanet
    19-09-2025

  3. Region could see short-term pain before long-term gain, says Zonda economist.

    The Vancouver housing market is being pulled in different directions, with structural and cyclical dynamics diverging in a “tricky” market, says one economist.

    The local market is structurally undersupplied, although the current cycle is seeing a pullback in demand, said Ali Wolf, chief economist for Zonda, a housing data and consultancy firm.

    “One thing that makes this market really tricky—and it’s almost like acknowledging the elephant in the room but there’s nothing you can do about that elephant—is in Canada, we see two different supply dynamics,” Wolf said during a Sept. 16 presentation in Vancouver.

    Headwinds for supply include a “recessionary” economy, job losses and tariff fears. Builders also face a “cost-prohibitive” environment in terms of labour, land, regulation, construction inputs, developer fees and planning delays, she said.

    Tailwinds, on the other hand, include off-peak mortgage interest rates, more incentives being offered to buyers and renters, a diversified B.C. economy, a high quality of life and magnets like universities, she said.

    “Once the market normalizes, once we see a bit more confidence in the economy, once we go through this bumpiness, we’re going to return to that structural undersupply environment,” Wolf said.

    “We’re going to return to a place where people are going to say, ‘I want to buy more homes and I can’t buy more homes.’”

    There are challenges in the meantime. Wolf cited the highest unemployment rate since 2016 excluding 2020 as well as fewer home sales, which are down 20 per cent in Vancouver from the city’s 10-year average, she said.

    Inventory is accumulating. Total re-sale listings in Vancouver are up 20 per cent compared to last year, and up 40 per cent compared to the 10-year average, she said. Meanwhile, there is lower demand due to federal curbs on immigration and foreign students.

    “Consumers have more options, but by extension, sellers have more competition,” Wolf said.

    Vancouver housing unaffordability ranks third behind Hong Kong and Sydney among developed nations, she said. Current home values in Vancouver remain 32 per cent higher compared to 2019 despite recently easing in a buyer-friendly market, she said.

    “Affordability looks better than it did the past couple of years [but] not good when you look at the longer-term trend and when you look at the global view,” she said.

    Wolf cited detrimental government interventions, a neutral rather than stimulative policy rate, an exodus of young adults from B.C. to Alberta and Ontario, and the reported rise in project cancellations.

    “I think things will still get worse before they get better. I think we’re still in a place that we’re going through this reshuffling,” she said. “The economy to me looks quite recessionary.”

    Still, B.C. has the key ingredients for long-term success, Wolf said.

    “Right now, cyclically, the market’s weird, the market’s not good. Structurally, longer-term, we see no reason why everyone in this room can’t be successful in the real estate industry given this overall backdrop,” she said.

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    By Jami Makan
    19-09-2025

  4. Housing affordability challenges remain, particularly for low to moderate income households who remain underserved by the private market

    There has been a significant increase in support for affordable housing in recent years, however, the scale of the current and projected need for non-market housing in the region far exceeds those efforts.

    That’s according to a report to Metro Vancouver’s Regional Planning Committee on the region’s Affordable Housing Gap Analysis, noting taking steps to address the gap requires coordinated action across all orders of government, but primary responsibility for funding rests with senior governments.

    Across the Metro Vancouver region, the stock of non-market rental housing remains inadequate, and the region is experiencing some of the most acute affordability challenges of any region in Canada, the report explains.

    The report notes that over the past five years, between 12,500 and 19,500 affordable rental housing units have been initiated across the region through a combination of federal, provincial and local government programs, including approximately $1.2 billion in contributions from regular federal and provincial funding programs, while there has been significant support from local governments through planning tools, incentives and land contributions.

    However, the analysis identifies a need for between 29,250 and 54,500 affordable rental units over the next five years, requiring a $10.1 billion-to-$19.3 billion investment, inclusive of all government tools, to both address current underhoused need and to repair historic underinvestment in the sector.

    Local governments continue to play a critical enabling role by implementing land use policies, streamlining development approvals, as well as offering financial and regulatory incentives that improve project viability, the report adds.

    In the City of Delta, the current housing target order to the municipality by the provincial government stipulates that the city is required to add 3,607 new units by September of 2028, but the province also provided guidelines for unit sizes and tenures.

    While those guidelines are not mandatory, the province suggested that of the total new units, Delta should add 830 below-market rentals, including 95 with on-site supports.

    The city earlier this year issued a request for proposals for a consultant to help develop an inventory of properties in Delta designated as civic and institutional in the Official Community Plan (OCP) and identify potential sites for future housing projects.

    The city noted the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), provided by the federal government through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), will help unlock new housing supply by speeding up development and approvals, introducing zoning reforms and incentivizing key housing types.

    As part of the funding, the city is undertaking work to identify opportunities for housing on civic and institutional lands.

    Opportunities to develop affordable non-market housing on those lands will be enabled through land inventories, financial incentives, capacity building and strategic partnerships, the city also noted.
    By Sandor Gyarmati
    18-09-2025

  5. Soaring property taxes are hurting affordability in province, says BCBC.

    Spending on core services by B.C. municipalities is growing faster than the population or overall price level, resulting in steep property tax hikes and declining affordability, says a business advocacy group.

    Excess spending by local governments totalled nearly $3.8 billion, or $831 per person, over the period 2013 to 2023, said a Thursday report by Business Council of British Columbia (BCBC).

    “Excess” means over and above what municipal spending would be if it matched population growth and inflation, said BCBC.

    “Spending has risen much faster than demographics or inflation can explain,” said the Sept. 18 report.

    “Unless there has been a commensurate improvement in core service quality, the data may indicate they are being delivered less efficiently.”

    It could possibly be due to municipalities straying into non-traditional areas like health, social services and housing, which are provincial domains, the report said.

    Either way, the result has been soaring property taxes and, by extension, worsening affordability, the report said.

    Average property taxes on owner-occupied housing in B.C. increased by a “staggering” 94 per cent from January 2010 to July 2025. This was more than double the rate of overall consumer price index inflation (42 per cent) and nearly double the national rate of property tax inflation (54 per cent).

    “Municipal spending growth drives property tax inflation. It also drives increases in user fees, permit and licensing fees, and demands for transfers from federal and provincial tax revenues—all of which decrease affordability,” the report said.

    The report focused on “operating” spending by local governments, which is the amount spent on core services like policing, sanitation, parks, staffing and transit. It is principally funded by property taxes, and is different from capital spending on new infrastructure, which is funded by developer fees.

    The report made suggestions about how to rein in what it called the “runaway” growth of spending by B.C. cities.

    BCBC recommended tying municipal spending growth to population and inflation; restoring independent provincial oversight; linking spending to service outcomes; and reviewing municipal mandates and governance.

    [email protected]

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    By Jami Makan
    18-09-2025

  6. Kitsilano, Mount Pleasant proposals total 305 rental units in towers reaching 20, 17 storeys

    Two more proposals for rental towers that fall within the boundaries of the Broadway plan go before Vancouver city council Thursday for decision at a public hearing.

    The properties are located at 45 East 16th Ave. in Mount Pleasant and at 2110 West 5th Ave., which is known as “Kitsilano north” in the plan. Council approved the plan in 2022 and has since seen amendments to allow for higher buildings.

    In both proposals, tenants of 46 rental agreements in older rental housing on the sites are eligible for tenant protection under the city’s tenant relocation and protection policy, which includes first right of refusal to move into a new building.

    The application by JTA Development Consultants on behalf of 45 East 16th Holdings Ltd. proposes a 17-storey mixed-use building containing 145 rental units. At least 20 per cent, or 29 of the 145, would be offered at below-market rents.

    The site is comprised of four lots located midblock along the north side of East 16th Avenue between Ontario and Quebec streets. An existing three-storey rental apartment on the property contains 23 rental units.

    Based on the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Market Rental Survey, the vacancy rate for Mount Pleasant is one per cent. A vacancy rate of between three and five per cent is considered to represent a balanced market.

    Rendering of proposal for 20-storey rental tower on West 5th Avenue. | Rendering courtesy City of Vancouver report

    The Vancouver housing market is being pulled in different directions, with structural and cyclical dynamics diverging in a “tricky” market, says one economist.

    The local market is structurally undersupplied, although the current cycle is seeing a pullback in demand, said Ali Wolf, chief economist for Zonda, a housing data and consultancy firm.

    “One thing that makes this market really tricky—and it’s almost like acknowledging the elephant in the room but there’s nothing you can do about that elephant—is in Canada, we see two different supply dynamics,” Wolf said during a Sept. 16 presentation in Vancouver.

    Headwinds for supply include a “recessionary” economy, job losses and tariff fears. Builders also face a “cost-prohibitive” environment in terms of labour, land, regulation, construction inputs, developer fees and planning delays, she said.

    Tailwinds, on the other hand, include off-peak mortgage interest rates, more incentives being offered to buyers and renters, a diversified B.C. economy, a high quality of life and magnets like universities, she said.

    “Once the market normalizes, once we see a bit more confidence in the economy, once we go through this bumpiness, we’re going to return to that structural undersupply environment,” Wolf said.

    “We’re going to return to a place where people are going to say, ‘I want to buy more homes and I can’t buy more homes.’”

    There are challenges in the meantime. Wolf cited the highest unemployment rate since 2016 excluding 2020 as well as fewer home sales, which are down 20 per cent in Vancouver from the city’s 10-year average, she said.

    Inventory is accumulating. Total re-sale listings in Vancouver are up 20 per cent compared to last year, and up 40 per cent compared to the 10-year average, she said. Meanwhile, there is lower demand due to federal curbs on immigration and foreign students.

    “Consumers have more options, but by extension, sellers have more competition,” Wolf said.

    Vancouver housing unaffordability ranks third behind Hong Kong and Sydney among developed nations, she said. Current home values in Vancouver remain 32 per cent higher compared to 2019 despite recently easing in a buyer-friendly market, she said.

    “Affordability looks better than it did the past couple of years [but] not good when you look at the longer-term trend and when you look at the global view,” she said.

    Wolf cited detrimental government interventions, a neutral rather than stimulative policy rate, an exodus of young adults from B.C. to Alberta and Ontario, and the reported rise in project cancellations.

    “I think things will still get worse before they get better. I think we’re still in a place that we’re going through this reshuffling,” she said. “The economy to me looks quite recessionary.”

    Still, B.C. has the key ingredients for long-term success, Wolf said.

    “Right now, cyclically, the market’s weird, the market’s not good. Structurally, longer-term, we see no reason why everyone in this room can’t be successful in the real estate industry given this overall backdrop,” she said.

    [email protected]

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    By Mike Howell
    16-09-2025

  7. Panel discussion in Vancouver questions federal government's approach and ambitions.

    A panel of B.C. developers today expressed concerns about the Liberal government’s new Build Canada Homes program, suggesting it could potentially overlap with another federal agency, benefit well-connected builders and encounter challenges in urban settings.

    Prime Minister Mark Carney officially launched the Build Canada Homes program Sunday with initial funding of $13 billion. The program aims to build affordable housing on a mass scale never before seen in Canada, with an emphasis on prefabricated housing that is faster to build.

    but more information is needed and there are potential pitfalls, according to a Sept. 16 panel discussion hosted in Vancouver by housing data firm Zonda Home.

    “I think a lot is still unclear … in terms of what is going to be Build Canada’s domain versus CMHC’s domain,” said Cyrus Navabi, president of development company Qualex-Landmark Living Inc.

    CMHC refers to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., a federal Crown corporation that already has financing programs for affordable housing.

    “I’m personally very skeptical about prefab and modular homes being a panacea for the country. I’m skeptical about the ability of government to efficiently deliver hundreds of thousands of homes. But mostly, I’m surprised that they are diverting energy away from CMHC,” Navabi said.

    The point was echoed by moderator Jon Bennest, vice-president of product development with Zonda.

    “We talk to clients out there on the rental side or doing advisory, and it’s the same where you hear, ‘Oh, it’s a challenging project but because we have CMHC, we’re good. If we didn’t have that, it wouldn’t work.’ I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that in a conversation,” he said.

    “To be kind of shifting your focus away from that to something else is kind of interesting to me.”

    Bennest also suggested that prefabrication may be more suitable for suburban and rural environments where there is abundant land. 

    “We’re typically dealing with urban infill sites, and I don’t think that you can get those same efficiencies for a 100- or 200-unit highrise tower," he said.

    Brad Jones, chief development officer with Wesgroup Properties LP, said he agrees that below-market housing needs to be delivered on a big scale, and that the federal government has a role to play in underserved segments of the market.

    “How they are going about it, I think it’s too early to tell. I have a lot of questions about how they are going to do it, and there might be a few modular groups that make a lot of money,” he said.

    “Somebody at a press conference described it to me as likely the next ArriveCAN,” he added, referring to the government’s COVID-era mobile tracking app, which was the subject of a procurement scandal.

    Panellist Neil Chrystal, president and CEO of Polygon Realty Ltd., said demand-side policies could help, including deferment of capital gains taxes reinvested in other properties.

    “Most governments, they seem to be afraid of demand, because they are afraid of … the investors coming back, and what they might do to displace tenants,” he said.

    “We need the buyers to come back.”

    Chrystal cited the government’s new GST rebate for first-time homebuyers. The government could broaden the rebate to encompass investor buyers, second-time homebuyers and move-up buyers, he said.

    “That will stimulate the demand that we need,” he said.
    By Jami Makan
    16-09-2025

  8. CBRE report points to strong outlook for 2026

    Despite a weak Canadian dollar, rising unemployment and a shrinking national GDP, B.C.’s hotel industry appears to be showing a level of collective resilience not seen this decade.

    CBRE Ltd. senior vice-president Nicole Nguyen with the brokerage’s valuation and advisory services group told Western Investor that B.C. markets across the Okanagan and Interior, along with Vancouver Island, saw high occupancy and transaction rates over the summer on par with pre-COVID-19 levels.

    “We're back to or beyond, in many cases, 2019’s peak industry performance from both the top line and, most importantly, on the bottom-line standpoint,” Nguyen said.

    The metrics used to gauge the hotel industry’s pulse include occupancy and capacity rates, overall revenue, revenue per available room (RevPAR) and average daily rate (ADR), among others.

    CBRE’s 2026 Hotels Outlook report issued Sept. 15 indicates that B.C.’s hotel sector is outpacing every other region in the country.

    Province-wide occupancy levels have consistently sat around 70 per cent since 2023, while ADR numbers were pegged at $252 million – a significant jump from 2019’s five-year low of $192 million. B.C.’s RevPAR numbers also reached a five-year high: $178 million this year compared to $136 million in 2019.

    Ontario and Quebec’s occupancy rates hovered between 66 and 67 per cent; ADR numbers were at $210 and $233 million respectively; and RevPAR stats place Ontario at $141 million and Quebec at $153 million.

    Nguyen said two major factors are driving the provincial sector’s recent success: fewer domestic travellers headed to the U.S. and less wildfire disruption.

    While the 2025 wildfire season was vast in scope, its impacts didn’t include widespread displacement or trip cancellations. Tofino, Victoria and southern Vancouver Island, Kamloops and Kelowna and the Rocky Mountain region straddling the B.C.-Alberta border all performed well, Nguyen said.

    The Metro Vancouver-wide snapshot was somewhat sluggish on the transaction side largely due to the nature of the owners. As Nguyen explains, those assets are often held by large, private investors or long-term owners such as pension funds.

    New builds in major metro markets are also hampered by land, input and labour costs, along with the time it takes to get to market, and investor risk. When activity in those major markets see an uptick, it’s most often the purchase of existing properties rather than new builds.

    “It's incredibly difficult to get an asset in Vancouver and it's the same in Toronto,” Nguyen said. “Once you have [a hotel property], it's rare that they transact and that's just because of the style of ownership.”

    Macdonald Commercial Real Estate Services Ltd.’s Nick Goulet is the only commercial agent based on the west coast of Vancouver Island. As of mid-September, Goulet’s firm was overseeing the sale of the Tofino Motel Harbourview, a 13-room motel at the entrance to Tofino with an asking price of $6.2 million.

    “Buyer activity in the hospitality market, especially with boutique hotels and motels like the Tofino Motel Harbourview, has been noticeably strong,” Goulet said. “I continue to see steady interest from groups both on and off the Island, and I’m speaking with buyers on a regular basis about opportunities here.”

    Goulet has seen considerable uptick from lifestyle buyers wanting income properties in coastal locations who are largely unbothered by the geopolitical unease between Canada and the U.S.  

    “I've experienced a notable amount of interest from U.S. investors on various investments,” Goulet said. “The buyers I’m dealing with are focused more on the long-term appeal of the Island.”

    Further south down the Island, JBW Commercial broker Harry Jones recently helped close a deal on Victoria’s iconic Bedford Regency Hotel. The purchaser paid $8.9 million, and Jones said plans are to maintain the property as a hotel operation.

    Jones’ sense of the Capital Region market isn’t as bullish as his west coast counterpart – instead, Jones views the trends as “active, but selective.”

    “The market isn't what it was a handful of years ago when things were flying off the shelf,” Jones said. “But we're still seeing a strong, strong amount of activity on the investment sale side of things.”

    Jones’ tempered approach is shared by Nguyen as she looks forward to the rest of 2025 and into 2026.

    Nguyen points to several precursors that could interrupt the travel and hotel sectors moving forward: the national GDP shrinking by 1.6 per cent in the second quarter and a rise in both unemployment and core inflation.

    “Generally bookings are made 60 to 70 days out when most people make their decision about where they're going,” Nguyen said. “As the economic data starts continuing to shift, if the unemployment continues to rise and we continue to see really poor output out of the economy, the hotel industry will catch up fast. I can tell you that from other downturns, the tap turns off really quick in those situations.”
    By John Kurucz
    16-09-2025

  9. More than 4,200 parcels of land within Broadway, Cambie plan areas subject of Sept. 16 public hearing

    Vancouver council will consider Tuesday a series of staff recommendations to amend the city’s zoning and development bylaw that would eliminate the need for property owners to apply for a rezoning in certain areas within the Broadway and Cambie plan boundaries.

    Staff’s aim in allowing property owners to proceed directly to a development permit application is to “simplify, clarify and consolidate city-building rules to improve the end-to-end development approvals process and streamline the delivery of housing.”

    That is a quote contained in a 447-page staff report that says 4,287 parcels in the Broadway and Cambie plan areas would be eligible to bypass a rezoning and proceed to a development permit application.

    Those parcels could allow low-rise, mid-rise and high-rise developments.

    “This proposal aims to reduce overall processing times with associated fees and streamline housing delivery as part of the creation of complete, walkable neighbourhoods close to transit,” the report said.

    The report outlines what staff described as current challenges to getting housing built faster. Presently, there are 871 individual comprehensive development, or CD-1, zoning schedules across the city.

    “These applications can take 12 to 15 months or longer to process from application to approval in principle by council at a public hearing,” the report said.

    “This process often includes complex negotiations between the applicant and staff on form of development requirements and delivery of public amenities [either cash or in-kind contributions]. The site-specific processing of rezonings comes with uncertainty and risk for applicants and impacts city staff resources.”

    Once a rezoning is approved and enacted, applicants submit a development permit application where a more detailed review is conducted on architectural drawings, site requirements and compliance with regulations, guidelines and bulletins.

    Altogether, the entire process following rezoning approval in principle at a public hearing may take two to three years before a building permit is issued, the report said, noting staff relies on numerous policies, guidelines and bulletins to provide guidance on urban design topics.

    Rules around building heights, setbacks and excluded floor area have also changed over time.

    “In recent decades, there has been a tendency to tightly manage new forms of development through regulations on height, storeys and floor-to-floor heights,” the report said.

    “Setbacks, building depth and building height regulations have been calibrated with the allowable density [floor space ratio] in a way that does not enable design flexibility for unique site conditions, alternative construction methods or delivery of open space.”

    As a result, the report continued, the city’s development process has become increasingly complex and impacted processing times for applications that deliver much needed housing, community amenities and job space.

     

    'Decrease sunlight'

    The proposed amendments have generated concerns from many residents, including more than 50 who wrote letters to council. Comments against and in support of the proposal have been posted on the city’s website.

    Longtime Fairview resident Amanda Abrams is opposed.

    “The Fairview neighbourhood is beautifully designed right now,” said Abrams, arguing that 22-storey towers will “destroy the good quality low-rise housing that exists, will significantly decrease the available sunlight, and will increase the population of the neighbourhood to unsustainable levels and making it harder to build a community with my neighbours.”

    Longtime Kitsilano resident Rosalie Yaremko described her neighbourhood as one with soul, charm and a rich history. Yaremko is concerned of losing those attributes, if large developments are built in Kitsilano.

    “To push through mass densification here feels careless,” she said. “If development must happen, then let it go through the same careful rezoning processes that currently exist. These should not be rushed or treated as formalities. Let the neighbourhood—and its residents—have a real say.”

    Added Yaremko: “With time, perhaps the city will come to see what many of us already feel: that overdevelopment risks destroying the very essence of what makes Kitsilano special.

    Sadly, I fear that if this plan moves forward as proposed, many of us who have built our lives here will be forced to leave—not just because of logistics, but because the place we love will no longer feel like home.”

    'Young families'

    Supporters of the amendments include Allen Pike of Kensington-Cedar Cottage and David Raji of Fairview.

    Pike: “It would be great to finally get these upzonings, allowing more homes and businesses to be built in this desirable and well-connected part of the city. In particular, I think it's great that the city is doing pre-zoning for more housing, rather than requiring every new apartment to need to go through a slow/expensive process to get its own separate specifications and approval.”

    Raji: “Overall, I'm strongly in favour of this plan as it can finally increase the number of young families that Vancouver can sustain and hopefully increase our city’s diversity. I envision a lot of mixed-use low-rise buildings, building a proper 21st century city like Paris or Barcelona. Looking forward to hearing more ways we'll improve our community services to match the expected growth, as well.”

    The public hearing begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the council chamber at city hall.

     

    [email protected]

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    By Mike Howell
    15-09-2025

  10. Smaller size, land constraints, less overbuilding make region attractive, says expert.

    Metro Vancouver’s persistently tight industrial real estate market is being humbled by rising vacancy, but don’t expect it to last very long.

    The region’s industrial vacancy rose in the second quarter of 2025 to its highest level since 2015, but it’s still relatively low at 3.1 per cent, said Andrew Petrozzi, director and head of Canada research at Newmark Group Inc.

    “Vancouver was the tightest industrial market for most of the past decade, so … you have to keep that in perspective,” he said, citing fundamentals like the region’s modest size, limited land and measured pace of building.

    A supply shortage may even be looming, regardless of whether the vacancy rate ticks up later this year. That’s because construction is slowing amid economic and tariff uncertainty, with “very little” supply scheduled to be delivered in the first half of 2026, he said.

    “Any vacancy that does accrue between, say, now and the start of 2026 will likely rapidly decline because there will be no more new space, and people will have to deal with the space that is available on the market,” Petrozzi said.

    He noted that apart from sector-specific U.S. tariffs, it’s been mostly threats, with many goods exempt under the trilateral Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement. At a certain point, investors will want to move on and resume dealmaking, he said.

    “The realization that business has to move on, particularly industrial, is starting to dawn on the market,” he said.

    An August report authored by Petrozzi made other observations:

    • There was negative absorption of 438,000 square feet in the first half of 2025;
    • Sublease space availability reached its highest level since at least 2008;
    • Industrial strata sale proceeds in the first half were the lowest since 2020;
    • Sale proceeds excluding strata reached their lowest level since at least 2015;
    • The amount of space under construction was at its lowest point since 2020.

    The apparent weakness may be misleading, the report suggested. Vacancy was boosted by the sudden closure of a 411,000-square-foot Hudson’s Bay Co. distribution centre in Richmond, for example, while submarkets like Burnaby, Delta, Tri-Cities and Maple Ridge saw positive absorption.

    The historically tight market is returning to “a more normalized state” and performance levels seen more regularly in other markets, Petrozzi said.

    “We are expecting the third quarter to continue to highlight some of that economic uncertainty that started to pervade people’s thinking in the second quarter,” he said.

     

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    jamimakan.bsky.social

    By Jami Makan
    12-09-2025

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