Expediting affordable housing in Saanich

News Release
For immediate release

Saanich, BC – Saanich is making significant improvements to create more affordable housing more quickly, so that more people in our community will be able to find a home that meets their needs and their budget.

“The reality is that many residents and newcomers are struggling to find a suitable place to live in our community. As housing and rental costs have continued to rise, so too has the demand for affordable, non-market housing options — and we need bold, forward-thinking ideas to address this challenge,” says Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock. “We’re doing our part to create more homes for low- to middle-income earners by removing some procedural and financial barriers for non-market housing. Council’s approval of a Rapid Deployment of Non-Market Housing Program will help housing providers move through review and approvals more quickly to break ground on these much-needed housing projects.”

Guided by similar work undertaken by the City of Victoria and other municipalities, Saanich has developed a program that responds to the District’s unique needs. The technical framework of Saanich’s Rapid Deployment Program (RDP) consists of two regulatory pieces:

• Eliminating the need for a rezoning
  • To expedite application processing and provide a more predictable process for non-market rental housing projects, the RDP allows non-market housing providers to build to the maximum permitted in the OCP without a rezoning.

• Eliminating the need for Council approval of DP/DVPs
  • To help further reduce overall approval timelines, the approval of Development Permits for qualifying projects — with or without variances — will now be delegated to staff.

Saanich is also offering some additional supports based on engagement feedback from non-market housing providers, such as eliminating parking requirements for non-market housing developments. Staff are exploring additional future measures that may further expedite the process to get more non-market housing built in our community.

Meanwhile, Council has also moved forward with a new Saanich Affordable Housing Reserve Fund (SAHRF) bylaw and policy to address the financial needs of non-market housing projects and support the development of new supply.

Two grant streams, Pre-Development and Capital, will provide municipal funding both early in the development process and during construction of new supply. With clear eligibility criteria for the Saanich Affordable Housing Reserve Fund, the District can offer a predictable, transparent, and efficient process for allocating funds to non-profit housing providers.

“Saanich has been learning from other municipalities and making improvements to the areas we have some control over — namely, our processes, our policy framework and the removal of unnecessary barriers,” continues Murdock. “We’re striving to be a leader — not a laggard — in housing and these changes are among the tools we’re employing to get there.”

Learn More 

For more information, please visit Saanich.ca/NonMarketHousing.

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Media Contact:
Saanich Communications
media@saanich.ca