Shaping Our Region's Future

Charrette Overview

In contrast to most provinces in Canada, British Columbia’s local government system has been driven by the wishes of the people it is intended to serve. Where other provinces have developed and implemented grand designs for local government, laying out boundaries and establishing municipal entities in advance of need, British Columbia has established municipalities only where local populations have expressed the desire for such systems and have been willing to support them. Until regional districts were created in 1967, most of the province’s territory remained under direct administration from Victoria. After that time, regional districts were responsible for providing local services to area outside municipalities where residents had expressed the desire for such services and their willingness to pay for them. Regional districts were also empowered to provide regional services to their member municipalities when these were requested.

Community planning and development control were seen as the exclusive preserve of municipalities, which were encouraged and empowered to prepare local official community plans and development regulations. None of these required the approval of the provincial government as was the case in many other provinces. Local community plans were crafted to reflect the priorities of the population they served, and they provided the framework for the provision of water, sewer, roads and other infrastructure and the planning and development of public and private services to the urban population.

There were, however, significant departures from this overall pattern which occurred when the importance of a provincial interest provided justification for direct intervention superseding local control. The most prominent example was the creation of the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) in 1973 to halt the loss of farmland to urban sprawl. Administered by the Agricultural Land Commission, the ALR prohibited non-farm use of 4.6 million hectares of agricultural land. It is widely considered to be the most important factor in the control of sprawl and the orderly development of urban areas in the last 50 years.

Other examples of the insertion of provincial direction in local development include the prohibition of settlement on land susceptible to flooding and a requirement for professional geotechnical assessments prior to development in geologically hazardous areas.

This brings us to the many-faceted housing crisis of the past 15 years, in which governments at all levels and the industry have been unable to ensure a consistent supply of the appropriate amount and type of housing at a cost that is affordable to Canadian households. Responding to this crisis has been a priority at national, provincial and local government levels. 

Part of the Government of British Columbia’s response has been legislation transforming the process and requirements for local planning and development control. The key statutes are: 

• Bill 44 (Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing): Eliminates traditional single-family zoning in most municipalities with populations over 5,000. Local governments must permit 3 to 4 units on standard single-family lots, and up to 6 units on lots near frequent transit. 

• Bill 46 (Development Financing): Overhauls how cities collect development fees. It transitions cities toward new "amenity cost charges" and replaces ad-hoc developer negotiation with standardized infrastructure financing, while standardizing density bonus rules.

• Bill 47 (Transit-Oriented Development Areas): Requires municipalities to designate strict zones around SkyTrain stations and major transit hubs. It mandates minimum allowable building heights (ranging from 8 to 20+ storeys) and density requirements to build high-density housing directly next to transit.

This legislation fundamentally alters the dynamics of the land market conditions for housing in each urban area in ways that have yet to be fully understood. Just as significantly, the provisions do not take into account the pre-existing area planning and infrastructure planning that is in place in each community.

Our Goal

To explore implications at various scales of the new housing legislation on the future social, economic, and ecological sustainability of a region of four million that is diverse and inclusive, ensuring growth is aligned with affordability, livability, and climate resilience.

Our Objectives

The purpose of the Resilient Region Design Charette is to explore the implications of the legislation at the local area and site levels in three Metro Vancouver municipalities in the context of a set of objectives for the following:

1. Civic Amenities – Identify the implications of the new bills on civic amenity provisions for parks, schools, and community centres that support diverse and inclusive populations.

2. Ecological Protection – Evaluate impacts of the new bills on ecological systems, hydrology, and climate risk, and test design responses with growth and environmental responsiveness.

3. Affordability – Field-test the enhanced affordability goals embedded in the legislation for rentals and ownership that mitigate land speculation.

4. Infrastructure & Utilities – Assess how new density affects the physical infrastructure of roads and utilities with amenity provision through ODPs.

5. Construction Innovation – Systems test advanced construction methodologies that integrate public and private delivery, strengthen climate resilience of the built form, and accelerate the transition to low-carbon energy systems.

6. Uncertainty Pricing – Assess “uncertainty pricing” of future infrastructure upgrades and incorporate consensus understanding of 100-year maintenance demands as integral to design.

7. People Centred & Equity Outcomes – Examine liveability, resilience, access to amenities, sense of place, and the distribution of benefits and burdens across communities.

8. Movement Systems – To field test how the new bills allow for fluid multi-modal movement 

9. Governance, Indigenous Rights & Stewardship - Test how land-use decision-making, inter-municipal coordination, and Indigenous rights, knowledge, and stewardship can be meaningfully integrated within fast-tracked, policy-driven growth areas.

The charrette will enable the Province to assess the impact of its legislation and the potential need for adjustments. It will provide Metro Vancouver with an opportunity to facilitate a deeper understanding of the implications for local and regional planning by working through these at a site level in a way that can inform the work of all member municipalities in navigating through the changes that have been made.