FAQs

Victoria's Official Community Plan provides a long-term vision for how the community will grow and change in the coming decades. City Council, staff and citizens refer to the plan for guidance on decisions such as where to locate housing and businesses, transportation priorities and how the community will respond to climate change.

 The OCP update focuses on solutions to the housing and climate crises. It will consider key policy areas related to planning for growth and change, including residential and local business needs, mobility, parks and amenities and natural assets. Modernized zoning and regulations will also be a focus to help ensure diverse housing, mobility, urban forest and public realm objectives can be met to better support our growing population. 

Council direction, existing City Policy, technical analysis and years of public feedback gathered through public consultation on key City plans (i.e., Climate Leadership Plan, Go Victoria, Parks and Open Spaces Master Plan) have provided a solid foundation with which to develop drafted policy directions. 

 A city with one equitable citywide plan for all neighbourhoods can better respond to the housing and climate crises with clear and consistent policy for all communities that is easier to understand and use.

To date, local area planning has been the primary method for keeping the OCP up to date but has taken more time than anticipated and many neighbourhoods now have outdated plans and a lack of capacity to meet evolving needs. Local area planning has also resulted in a complex policy framework that can be confusing for residents, businesses and the development community. 

The Zoning Regulation Bylaw, originally adopted in 1981, remains largely unaligned with the OCP, leading to a continued stream of applicant-driven site-specific rezoning applications and resulting in an increasingly complicated and difficult to manage regulatory scheme. Under this process, the City’s zoning would be modernized for easier interpretation. The Bylaw will also be updated to better align with the vision of the OCP, reducing the need for rezoning processes for priority housing and business development in key locations. 

At the outset of the project, Council provided direction to shorten the originally proposed timeline to quickly address the housing and climate crises. This meant developing a longer and well-informed single phase of community engagement to inform drafting the OCP and bylaws. There will be a public hearing before Council considers adopting a new OCP, and this provides another opportunity to speak and/or write to Council with your thoughts.

This process is also able to proceed quickly because we are not starting from scratch. Council direction, existing City policy, technical analysis and years of public feedback gathered through public consultation on key City plans (e.g., the Climate Leadership Plan, Go Victoria, Parks and Open Spaces Master Plan) also provide a solid foundation to inform the policy directions under consideration through this OCP update.

Modernizing municipal land management tools advances solutions to both the housing and climate crises as they enable: 

The right supply of housing – multi-unit forms that can realize rental, affordable and diverse housing options in the right locations – near services, amenities and active transportation and transit routes. 

in the right way – with a supportive, high-quality public realm and modern infrastructure. These actions together can reduce transportation emissions (which account for 40 per cent of B.C.'s greenhouse gas emissions) and building emissions. They also ensure we make room for infrastructure (like trees and greenspaces) that improve our ability to adapt.

For the most up to date and complete information, please refer to the Province of British Columbia’s Local Government Housing Initiatives. 

Victoria’s latest Housing Needs Report (received by Council in November 2024) identifies a 20-year housing need of 26,600 units (by 2041) which is accommodated in the OCP update.

The proposed OCP considers both the 20-year housing need as well as a 30-year housing need horizon. The City’s assessment of residential capacity confirms that the proposed OCP accommodates the identified 20-year housing need, but reinforced that addressing the 30-year housing need in Victoria will require on-going investment from all levels of government - particularly to support improved access and affordability of the needed housing supply.

Victoria’s existing heritage program is nationally renowned, and the OCP update proposes building on that strong foundation to expand the program to align with current best practices and standards. This includes examining ways to recognize the full diversity of heritage in the community, integrate intangible heritage into the program, and possibilities to expand incentives for heritage retention and conservation. 

The proposed land use framework directly supports heritage through Heritage Conserving Infill, and the draft Rezoning and Redevelopment Framework and General Urban Design Guidelines encourage heritage retention, context sensitive and responsive design, and heritage interpretation and celebration. Victoria needs to continue changing like it always has in order to be a healthy and vibrant city, and heritage is one of the tools to manage that change in a community-centred, sustainable way.

Secured Rental Housing generally refers to any form of purpose-built apartment buildings that are designated as long-term rental housing and secured by a legal agreement.  

The Missing Middle Housing Initiative has been approved and the outcomes will continue to be monitored and reported on. This process will not reconsider the recently established policies and regulations for Missing Middle. However, new capacity for other housing forms will be considered through this process, both in OCP policy and in zoning. 

Adding housing close to safe, high quality mobility infrastructure will encourage more people to walk, roll and cycle. Locating housing close to transit options increases the viability of more frequent, reliable service both within and outside of the city. Making room for housing in the Capital Region’s urban core also reduces the need for long commutes and urban sprawl outside our local boundaries.

Yes, and lots of it. Victoria’s population is projected to grow significantly from 94,900 in 2021  to 142,000 people by 2050 and we expect to see between 19,000 and 40,000 new jobs locate here. More residents and workers mean more demand for goods and services. 

Existing businesses will benefit from addressing some of this demand and it will also spur new businesses to make use of vacant commercial spaces, but this growth will justify the creation of a significant amount of net new retail space across the city. 

Analysis commissioned by the City considered household spending patterns, the mix and locations of existing business, online shopping trends, spending from tourism, and anticipated population and job growth. It calculated there will be opportunities for a net increase of approximately 1.1 million square feet of new retail space in the city by 2050.

The Local Government Act (LGA) requires the OCP to respond to a 20-year housing need based on the City’s most recent Housing Needs Report (HNR).

The LGA requires municipalities to:

• Update HNRs by January 2025
• Align OCPs and zoning with the updated HNR by the end of 2025

Provincial regulations dictate the methodology for identifying 20-year housing need that includes growth and latent demand indicators.

In February 2025, BC Stats again updated their population projections to account for changes to federal immigration policy. They are lower than the October 2023 BC Stats projections that made up the City’s baseline (low) scenario and were closer to the historical average. 

The City could consider updating the high and medium growth scenarios based on these changes, but it would take time and would be better to do as part of the five-year OCP review after the impact of recent federal and local policy changes have had a chance to be observed. Legislatively prescribed methods for determining 20-year housing need through HNRs will apply, regardless.

In summer 2023, the City commissioned population projections for low, medium and high growth scenarios, using BC Stats estimates as a baseline. While this work was being completed, BC Stats updated their own methodology to better account for economic migration and temporary residents which raised population projections across the board and moved the target for the City. 

The final report for baseline (low) projections reflects the newer (October 2023) BC Stats methodology, the medium and high scenarios are based on earlier lower baseline projections and therefore are more reflective of historical averages.

Higher or lower population projections change the estimation of housing need as more or less people are projected to need homes in the future. Legislation requires municipalities to plan for what is in the most recently received HNR, which is informed by a prescribed methodology with its own population projections. 

Planning for housing need based on HNRs is good practice as  it is better to work with a consistent target than with one that moves unpredictably, for instance based on federal immigration policies that can shift for many reasons.

In the February 2024, OCP Draft Directions were presented to Council with the following population estimates:

• Baseline (low) scenario - estimated growth rate of 1.3 per cent
   (reflect the most current BC Stats estimate at the time)
• Medium scenario - estimated growth rate of 1.4 per cent
   (based on the earlier, lower BC Stats baseline and accounts for a high immigration scenario identified by Statistics Canada)
• High scenario - estimated growth rate of 1.9 per cent
   (based on the earlier, lower BC Stats baseline, accounts for a high immigration scenario and potential effects of retaining more residents in  family forming years - a key City policy direction)

The low and medium growth rate difference is small due in part to shifting standard methodologies of BC Stats and historical regional and local patterns of migration.

Underestimated population growth can lead to future housing and infrastructure challenges. Staff considered the high growth scenario, factoring in the Missing Middle program and draft directions for retaining families in Victoria; however, considering the moving target of BC Stats estimates and the not-yet-documented outcomes of the Missing Middle program, the more conservative medium growth scenario was chosen.  

Federal immigration policies can shift for many reasons, including, evolving economic needs. The OCP does not reflect planning for the highest growth scenario due to potential impacts of recent policy, nor the lowest scenario due to potential impacts of recent policy, particularly in light of acute and unmet housing needs. (Nor could the City choose to do this while still meeting legislated requirements.

Much of Victoria’s growth is from emigration, interprovincial migration, and intraprovincial migration.

Recent updates to the City’s Development Cost Charges (DCC) Bylaw reflect the costs of identified growth on transportation, underground (water, drainage, sewer) and park infrastructure. In a built-out city like Victoria, it’s also necessary to replace assets (e.g., a watermain) over time due to its age and condition regardless of growth.

Carefully implemented funding mechanisms like DCCs enable the City to right-size the asset to meet future needs instead of only implementing like-for-like replacement. For instance, old pipes might be replaced with a pipe with extra capacity to address anticipated growth. This approach ensures Victoria is appropriately planning (and never under-planning) for future need and addressing it using funding mechanisms that equitably distribute costs in line with City policy and objectives. 

While it is true that managing natural assets, green space and the urban forest in the context of an urbanizing city is challenging, it is also important to reflect on the ecological benefits of contained urbanization in Victoria. As the urban core, a key role that Victoria plays is accommodating growth within the region’s Urban Containment Area. In the broader regional context, this helps protect large, intact and functional greenspaces for a sustainable region. Not only is this important for regional ecology, but it is also important for managing regional greenhouse gas emissions as we grow.

The courtyard block (or perimeter block) urban form pattern is a made-in-Victoria approach designed to unlock housing opportunities within our general urban fabric, outside of the downtown, Town Centres, and Villages. This pattern also provides space for the urban forest, on-site stormwater management and private outdoor amenities. 

The perimeter block is shaped through zoning regulations and design guidelines that ensure backyards (i.e., the interior of the block) consists of green space and contains soil depths for a thriving urban forest. The setbacks and circumstances for variations are carefully developed by staff across different City departments, considering critical space for accessibility, outdoor amenity, and daylight access, as well as the soil volumes needed for urban forest and on-site stormwater management. Without this approach, development might seek to pave or excavate the rear yard space for parking, or else extend the building footprint too far into the rear yard. 

This regulatory approach along with development servicing requirements  make it possible to accommodate healthy street trees in the right of way. Altogether, the perimeter block approach is a guiding vision for how Victoria can add housing while ensuring a thriving urban forest of tree-lined streets and green, leafy interiors of blocks.

The city’s existing blocks and building patterns (e.g., general absence of back lanes and buildings near the front of lots) already provides a foundation for this concept. The recent missing middle regulations were designed to reinforce this pattern. This approach is central to the proposed OCP’s vision for the general urban fabric, where the Official Community Plan (OCP), modernized zoning and revised design guidelines unlock a variety of housing opportunities, ranging from low-rise and Missing Middle housing forms to more intensified developments up to six-storeys. 

Although this specific vision of the courtyard block is a made-in-Victoria solution, various other cities have implemented their own versions of this idea.  For instance, Vancouver’s Olympic Village and Germany’s Quartier Vauban in Freiburg im Breisgau and both all interpretations of the courtyard block idea, but with different building scales and other features reflective of their own unique contexts.

The draft OCP takes a systems perspective to weave together a diverse set of strategies that will help meet the diverse social, cultural and ecological needs that are served by Victoria’s Urban Park Network as a whole, including parks, pathways and open spaces of varied size and function. The Network is envisioned to evolve to serve a growing population and respond to the changing climate through key strategies and actions, including:

• Creative solutions like Linear Parkways and Privately Owned Publicly Accessible Spaces (POPS).
• Partnerships with other jurisdictions and sectors.
• Development of a Natural Assets Strategy.
• Development of tree canopy targets in line with recommendations in the Urban Forest Master Plan.
• Establishment the Amenity Cost Charge program to support Linear Parkways.
• Zoning Parameters and Design Guidelines for functional green space on private property, protecting greenspace in rear yards and creating enough space for new, healthy replacement trees where needed.
• Site servicing standards that support tree canopy cover on City streets, the provision of green infrastructure and on-site rainwater management.

More specific metrics, suitable to Victoria’s context and needs, may also be developed as part of the recommended monitoring and evaluation program for the OCP.

During the main active engagement period, the City provided many online and in-person opportunities to make the most of people’s valuable time. Some activities included an online survey, public open houses, pop-ups in busy locations or areas affected by proposed changes and online focus groups. It also included place-based planning to create more detailed land use guidance for areas with outdated plans. 

All of the input gathered through these opportunities is synthesized in the Engagement Summary Report that was presented to Council on February 27, 2025. A public hearing will provide another opportunity for Council to hear from community members before considering adoption of the new OCP and related bylaws.

The City engaged thoughtfully with the community to make sure people understand the process and to understand the priorities of community members with respect to key directions of the OCP update. The Engagement Summary Report outlines all the ways we engaged and summarizes what we heard by topic.

This community input is considered together with Council direction, existing City policy, technical analysis and years of public feedback gathered through public consultation on key City plans (e.g., the Climate Leadership Plan, Go Victoria, Parks and Open Spaces Master Plan) to inform the proposed OCP and approach to other bylaw updates, as presented to Council on February 27, 2025. A public hearing will provide another opportunity for Council to hear from community members before considering adoption of the new OCP and related bylaws.

The City’s updated Engagement Framework guides our communication and outreach to ensure it is equitable, welcomes all voices and honours our communities’ diverse ways of knowing, learning and sharing.