Last June 30, 2024, was the deadline for Bill 44, or the Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing Legislation, which we call "multiplex" for short. We were planning to post an update in July about each city's updates; however, cities haven't publicly posted their adaptations yet, so we couldn't gather much information. But now, after a month of waiting, most cities have already posted their adaptations to the multiplex legislation.
According to the province of British Columbia, almost 90% of cities have adapted their own multiplex bylaws, which are now in effect. Here’s the list of cities that have already passed the bylaw. For the full list of cities, you can find the link in our description.
With that in mind, we have finally gathered different information from each city in BC, specifically cities near Vancouver. We have provided a table with important changes such as which zonings are affected by the new bylaw, the new floor area ratio, new storey and height regulations, the number of required parking spaces, and links to where we got this information.
Aside from that, we have additional information for the City of Burnaby. We now know that if there is a rear lane on your lot, driveways are only allowed to connect from the rear lane.
We’re happy to receive many inquiries about the information we've gathered. For homeowners wondering why there are so many offers or buyers for your lot, check out our blog posts or YouTube videos. Your lot might be eligible for multiple units, making it ideal for developers or renting.
This is a significant change! I hope that housing prices or rents will decrease due to the new bylaw relaxation. Building multiple units on a single lot can now be done faster, without rezoning applications. For more details, we made a YouTube video based on this blog!
Reference
Nearly 90% of B.C. communities have adopted small-scale multi-unit housing legislation: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2024HOUS0132-001192
Abbotsford: https://letstalkabbotsford.ca/new-housing-regulations
Burnaby: https://www.burnaby.ca/our-city/projects/zoning-bylaw-rewrite
Chilliwack: https://www.chilliwack.com/main/page.cfm?id=37&prshow=details&prID=574
City of North Vancouver: https://www.cnv.org/Business-Development/Building/New-Provincial-Housing-Legislation-Updates
Coquitlam: https://www.coquitlam.ca/1361/Small-Scale-Multi-Unit-Housing-in-Coquit
District of West Vancouver: https://westvancouver.ca/business-development/housing/small-scale-multi-unit-housing-bill-44
Langford: https://langford.ca/meetings/
Maple Ridge: https://www.mapleridge.ca/build-do-business/planning-land-use/community-planning/housing/new-provincial-legislation
Mission: https://www.mission.ca/council-government/news/notice-rezoning-bylaws-july-2-2024
Nanaimo: https://www.nanaimo.ca/your-government/projects/projects-detail/small-scale-multi-unit-housing
New Westminster: https://www.newwestcity.ca/new-provincial-housing-legislation/small-scale-multi-unit-housing
Port Moody: https://www.portmoody.ca/en/business-and-development/provhousinglegislation.aspx
Richmond: https://www.richmond.ca/business-development/devzoning/housing-legislation.htm
Township of Langley: https://www.tol.ca/en/the-township/provincial-housing-legislation.aspx#Where-do-the-SSMUH-requirements-apply
White Rock: https://www.whiterockcity.ca/1213/Small-Scale-Multi-Unit-Housing
That’s it for today’s blog! We have put a lot of time into studying and checking out the changes made in each city. If you’re interested in building your own multiplex or maybe doing some renovations and adding more units, and need a professional, feel free to contact my staff member April at ‘april@jjarch.ca’. Thank you, and see you in the next one!