Housing People Can Afford
Victoria needs more homes that people who live and work here can actually afford.
I support substantially more housing across Victoria, including new housing in existing neighbourhoods, while planning for the infrastructure and services that growth requires.
The people who keep Victoria working must be able to afford to live and build a life here.
More Supply, Better Affordability
We need more housing across the spectrum: market and non-market homes, family-sized rentals, non-profit and co-operative housing, supportive and complex-care housing, and realistic opportunities for ownership.
More supply matters, but supply alone will not make housing affordable. City Hall can influence affordability through faster, more predictable approvals; zoning that allows more housing in appropriate locations, shaped by meaningful public input; careful use of municipal fees and charges; use of suitable City-owned land to support affordable and non-market housing partnerships; and other tools that reduce the cost of delivering housing.
When City Hall reduces costs or provides public support, that support must translate into better affordability for residents. Where possible, it should be tied to clear affordability commitments, with public reporting on whether the savings actually reached the people renting or buying the homes.
Once residents have helped shape the rules through genuine public engagement, projects that follow those rules should not spend years re-opening and re-arguing decisions already made. City Hall should move them through a clear, predictable approval process.
If a developer seeks a significant departure from those rules, they should have to make a strong case for it. Any public benefit offered in return should be meaningful and at least proportionate to what is being requested. Token amenities should not be used to justify major departures, and Council should be prepared to say no when the case is not strong enough.
Protect What Is Already Affordable
Victoria has spent years responding to affordability pressure and renovictions, yet City Hall still cannot readily show whether redevelopment is preserving affordability for the people displaced. That is a serious accountability gap.
As Mayor, I will bring forward a motion to have City staff publicly report:
- how many lower-cost homes are lost;
- what replaces them;
- what returning tenants actually pay; and
- how many displaced tenants are able to come back.
Residents should not have to guess whether redevelopment is protecting affordability or eroding it.
Build the Right Partnerships
Victoria cannot solve housing affordability on its own. Non-profit housing providers, co-operatives, the private sector, BC Housing, the Province, the federal government and regional partners all have roles.
Victoria should be an active partner, not simply another organization at the table. For major affordable-housing projects, City Hall should help bring the land, approvals, funding partners and service providers together early, identify what is holding a project up, and make clear who is responsible for resolving it.
As Mayor, I will also press the Province and federal government for the capital funding, operating support, health services and other resources that only they can provide.
Growth Has to Work for Neighbourhoods Too
More housing brings more people and greater demand for transportation, parks, schools, utilities and other infrastructure.
As Mayor, I will push to make the link between growth and infrastructure much more explicit at the project level. Major development decisions should identify what added infrastructure and services will be needed, how they will be funded and when they will be delivered, while protecting accessibility, public space, trees and natural assets, and neighbourhood character.
Measure What Matters
Housing policy should be judged by results, not just approvals or unit counts.
City Hall already collects a great deal of housing data.
As Mayor, I will push for clear public reporting on how much housing is being built, what kinds, how long decisions take, whether affordable housing is actually improving, and whether City-supported projects are delivering the affordability they promised.
Residents should be able to see that housing policy is actually making it easier to build a life in Victoria.
These are my current Housing policy commitments and the direction I intend to pursue. I want to hear from you. Every policy remains open to new evidence, public input and better ideas. My commitment to listening includes establishing a Citizens’ Assembly to give residents a meaningful role in shaping Victoria’s future.