FAQs

In response to the housing crisis, the City of New Westminster has launched the Affordable Housing Acceleration Initiative – Pre-zoning for Non-Profit Housing. This initiative aims to speed up the delivery of non-profit housing projects, by reducing regulatory barriers to delivering these housing projects.

Through this initiative, the City will amend the Zoning Bylaw to permit non-profit housing projects up to six (6) storeys on select sites across New Westminster. Sites that meet certain criteria will be pre-zoned for non-profit rental housing.

If the criteria are met and a site can be pre-zoned, a rezoning application would not be required, allowing projects to move forward faster through the approvals process when funding commitments are made.

The City of New Westminster’s Housing Needs Report defines affordable housing as housing that costs up to 30% of the household’s before-tax income. Generally, if the yearly rent costs more than 30% of the household's before-tax income, it is not considered affordable.

The Housing Needs Report also defines two common types of affordable rental housing: below-market housing, and non-market housing.

• Below market housing is intended to be affordable for households earning between $30,000 and $75,000 per year. Below market rent is set at 10% below the rental market median rent.
• Non-market housing is owned or subsidized by government, a non-profit society, or a housing cooperative. This housing is intended to be affordable for very low-income households, earning less than $30,000 per year. Non-market housing includes social and supportive housing.

The Affordable Housing Acceleration Initiative focuses on specific affordable housing development: rental housing owned and/or operated by non-profit housing providers.

The City of New Westminster plays a lead role in facilitating a supply of housing for current and future residents, through land use planning and development approvals.

Since the 1970s, the City has and continues to act within its jurisdiction and financial capacity to help address housing affordability. In recent years, several policies and regulations that aim to expand and protect dedicated rental housing have been introduced, such as the Secure Market Rental Policy and regulations to deter renovictions.

New Westminster was also the first municipality in BC to require a minimum percentage of three-bedroom units in new multi-family developments, through the Family Friendly Housing Policy. This policy is currently being updated, see the Family Friendly Housing Policy Be Heard Page for more information.

The City has also provided City-owned sites to non-profit agencies at favourable terms for new non-market housing projects, including a modular housing project for women.

As of June 2024, there are 66 affordable housing complexes across the City of New Westminster, containing a total of 2,240 units. Of these complexes, 58 are owned and/or operated by non-profit housing providers. The remaining eight (8) affordable housing complexes are owned and/or operated by housing cooperatives.

Different housing complexes can house different groups of residents, including families with children, seniors, youth, and persons with disabilities.

Current affordable housing complexes are spread throughout New Westminster, with Glenbrooke North (40% of units), Glenbrooke South (16% of units), Brow of the Hill (14% of units) and Downtown (13% of units) having the most units.

There are not enough affordable housing units in New Westminster to meet demand. Currently, 36% of renter households in New Westminster pay more than 30% of their income towards housing, meaning these renters do not have affordable housing. 

Many households are at risk of eviction and are struggling to pay their rent. During the 2022/2023 financial year, the New Westminster Rent Bank provided 31 loans and 29 grants to households in this situation. Of these households, 96% had before-tax household incomes of less than $50,000 per year. As of September 2023, there were 823 households on the BC Housing waitlist for non-market housing, an increase of 54% in the past five years.

The City’s Housing Needs Report identified a need for 208 new affordable rental units to be constructed each year from now to 2031 to meet demand. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, we did not meet this target, as no new affordable housing units were completed. Since 2021, a total of 268 affordable rental units (or 89 units each year) received building permits, which falls short of the annual goal.

Currently, many properties in New Westminster must be rezoned for non-profit housing to be constructed at the densities envisioned in the Official Community Plan (OCP). However, delivering non-profit housing projects can be challenging due to funding commitments and the rezoning process. 

Funding commitments for these projects often come with strict timelines. The amount of time required to process a rezoning application is sometimes longer than the time allocated in the funding agreement, and the opportunity to create non-profit rental housing units is lost.

To reduce this barrier to delivering new non-profit housing projects, the City will amend the Zoning Bylaw to permit non-profit rental housing projects up to six (6) storeys on select sites across New Westminster.

Sites that meet certain criteria will be pre-zoned for non-profit rental housing. The pre-zoning criteria being explored include:

• The building is owned and operated by a non-profit housing provider, 
• The housing units are rental only, 
• The higher density is already identified in the Official Community Plan (i.e., in areas such as downtown, Queensborough, and Transit Oriented Areas),
• Other criteria, such as entering into a housing agreement (which requires the units to be maintained as affordable for the long-term). 

These criteria are being refined through this project process. If the criteria are met, a rezoning application would not be required, allowing projects to move forward faster through the approvals process when funding commitments are made. Projects would still be subject to other standard City approvals, such as development permits, building permits, and housing agreements.

The changes to the Zoning Bylaw are big picture changes, the bylaw applies to the entire City of New Westminster. This does not mean wide scale change will be immediately achieved, or the entire City will be turned into non-profit rental housing.

The goal of the Initiative is to reduce the barriers to non-profit housing projects. Pre-zoning sites and removing the need for rezoning applications will allow projects to move forward faster when funding commitments are made. This means, over time, we can expect to see more non-profit rental housing complexes created across the city.

Non-profit housing projects are often reliant on government funding, which is limited and often comes with strict timelines. These projects are therefore relatively rare. For example, over the last 10 years, a total of five (5) affordable housing projects (including two (2) in 2024 so far) have been completed across the city, creating 274 affordable housing units. 

The higher density envisioned in the Official Community Plan is focused in certain areas, meaning we can expect to see more new housing projects within these areas. This includes Transit Oriented Areas (described further below). 

There are several Affordable Housing Acceleration Initiative projects already underway, at varying stages of progress. You can read more about these projects on their respective Be Heard pages:

• 823 to 841 Sixth Street: this project included development of a six-storey building with 96 affordable rental units, intended to house members of the Indigenous and Swahili communities. As of July 2024, this project is complete and ready for residents to move in.
• 1923 & 1927 Marine Way: this project proposes the development of a six-storey building with 90 affordable rental units.  As the project site falls within the 22^nd Street Station Transit Oriented Development Area, the proposed height of the building may be increased from six storeys to 12 storeys, to align with the Transit Oriented Area legislation (described below).

Homes and Housing Options was identified as one of the five focus areas in the Council Strategic Priorities Plan 2023-2026. The goal is to “clear the way for all types of homes needed by people today and tomorrow, prioritizing homes for those with the greatest need.” 

The delivery of homes that meet the community’s diverse needs was identified as one of the key objectives in the Strategic Priorities Plan. Another key objective is to foster inter-governmental collaboration to provide new housing and supports to keep people housed.

Three (3) outcomes within the Strategic Priorities Plan are directly related to the Affordable Housing Acceleration Initiative:

• Implementation of a streamlined development approvals process to expedite housing delivery across the housing spectrum.
• Locate more homes near rapid transit to ensure alignment with the Transit Oriented Area legislation, and
• Collaborate with senior levels of government to facilitate the construction of new affordable housing units.

In Spring 2023, the Province launched the Homes for People action plan, which aims to deliver more homes for people, faster. There are four (4) pillars to the action plan:

• Unlocking more homes, faster.
• Delivering better, more affordable homes.
• Supporting those with the greatest housing need; and
• Creating a housing market for people, not speculators.

Under Homes for People, the Province has enacted legislative amendments, including Bill 47 (Transit Oriented Area legislation), to support the delivery of housing, support transit-oriented development, and help communities provide much-needed infrastructure and amenities and more certainty for development projects.

Bill 47 supports high-density, mixed-use development within walking distance of frequent transit services. Transit Oriented Areas incorporate a variety of land uses, including residential, commercial, and community amenities. They also promote the creation of complete, liveable, and sustainable communities by building more homes near transit and services. 

Under Bill 47, land within 800 meters of SkyTrain stations is designated as a Transit-Oriented Area. Transit Oriented Areas are made up of three (3) tiers. Different tiers cover land within certain distances from SkyTrain Stations and can contain buildings with different heights and densities. There are five Transit-Oriented Areas in New Westminster, one surrounding each of the SkyTrain stations: 22nd Street Station, New Westminster Station, Columbia Station, Sapperton Station, and Braid Station.

Sites within these Transit-Oriented Areas can be rezoned and redeveloped to achieve building heights up to 8, 12, or 20 storeys. More information on the Transit-Oriented Areas within New Westminster can be found on the City’s Transit Oriented Development Areas page.

The existing initiative is focused on delivering six-storey affordable housing developments across the Multiple Dwelling (RM) Districts identified in the City’s Official Community Plan.

However, there will likely be subsequent phases of this project where additional areas, as well as greater densities and building heights, may be identified.

Please note that the City is in the process of updating its Official Community Plan, and once the new Official Community Plan is adopted, there will likely be additional opportunities to expand the initiative, including within all three Transit Oriented Area tiers.

Supportive housing is not the focus of this initiative. 

The focus of the initiative is to support the delivery of affordable rental housing, which consists of non-market and below-market rental housing. For clarity, please refer to the Housing Spectrum diagram below.

Through recent legislation, the Province is shifting municipalities to an approach where community engagement is focused on the development and refinement of Official Community Plans, which establish policies for appropriate future land uses, heights and densities in neighbourhoods. 

The City is currently preparing an Official Community Plan update, which will involve a community engagement process. 

For individual affordable housing proposals on sites that are pre-zoned, residents of the neighbourhood will still be notified about the Development Permit application being submitted, and City Council will continue to have a role in approving legal agreements securing affordability.

Most projects will be funded through partnerships with senior government agencies, including BC Housing and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), which usually have set affordability requirements as part of funding programs (which determine rents). 

We recognize that determining the appropriate rent levels at the beginning of the development stage would be beneficial to provide clarity to the developer/housing provider and future tenants. 

Removing the need for rezoning applications reduces some cost concerns for developers/housing providers, and provides additional clarity at the beginning of the site development process.

Redevelopment projects on lands with existing places of workshop are possible where the Development Permit Area guidelines can be met, and appropriate amenities are provided.

This would be determined on a site-by-site basis. 

If a place of worship has a heritage designation, there would be additional requirements (like a Heritage Revitalization Agreement) intended to protect the heritage status of the building.  This would be determined on a site-by-site basis. 

This would also be determined on a site-by-site basis, depending on the structural integrity of the existing building. 

Please note that input from structural engineers would be required to ensure the structural integrity of any building where additional storeys are being considered.