UPDATED: The province's first list of municipalities to be given housing targets included three of the Capital Region's largest: Victoria, Saanich, and Oak Bay.
Now it is the turn of a few of the smaller communities, with the B.C. government releasing targets for Esquimalt, Central Saanich and Sidney on Wednesday, June 26.
The five-year targets are split into yearly quotas that get larger each year. Over the five-year span, it is expected that in Esquimalt, an additional 754 units will be built, in Central Saanich another 588, and an extra 468 units in Sidney.
The first round of targets was released in Sept. 2023 and identified 10 municipalities province-wide that needed to build more housing. The provincial government then announced a second round of 10 more in April, but didn't make the actual target numbers public until Wednesday.
Central Saanich Mayor Ryan Windsor told Black Press Media he thinks the targets are reasonable, but that it is "a combination of art and science" getting there and that not every part of the development process is within the district's control.
"There are a number of factors that influence that, that probably are beyond our scope," he said, when asked whether his district could meet the targets. "But from a planning perspective, I think so."
In a news release, the provincial government lays out a list of some of the actions that can be taken by municipalities to encourage development, including updating Official Community Plans (OCP), finding district land to use for housing, delegating permit authority to staff and streamlining the permit process.
The three Greater Victoria municipalities that received the new targets on Wednesday are each very different places in terms of land size and use, and will have very different challenges.
A spokesperson for Central Saanich pointed out that much of that district is Agricultural Land Reserve, with plans for new housing development focused on just 18 per cent of the land base that falls within the Urban Containment Boundary.
That being said, Central Saanich has identified housing as a priority, and was able to meet a similar target set out in a 2019 housing needs assessment.
Esquimalt is more urban and has much different land use, with a large naval base and shipyard located in the municipality. It already has over 1,000 units already under construction, 1,000 more going through the development permit process and 800 going through rezoning, according to a spokesperson.
“Esquimalt is well-positioned for growth”, said acting Mayor Ken Armour through a press release.
Sidney is a much smaller district, with a smaller population, older residents and much less land.
A Sidney spokesperson told Black Press Media that town staff believe the targets to be realistic and achievable, with construction of close to 100 units already underway, and approximately 300 units having received development approval over the past year.
"We understand the critical importance of new housing, particularly rental housing, for working people, families, and seniors," the spokesperson wrote.
For such a small municipality, and with the entirety of its five square kilometres already built out, the spokesperson said the goal in Sidney is generally to focus on urban infill to create new housing.
Along with the new targets, the province released a progress report for the first 10 municipalities.
The government highlighted the success of Victoria in being well ahead of its goal, but called out Oak Bay for a lack of progress.
In six months, Victoria already exceeded the annual goal of 659 units by 14 per cent, while Oak Bay only managed 12.5 per cent of the required yearly allotment of 56 units. Saanich fell in the middle and is only slightly behind schedule. Over the first six months, 44 per cent of the 440 units supposed to be built in the first year were completed.
Editor's Note: This article was updated with statements from the Town of Sidney.
