Planners

Key insights:

In November of 2023, the province of British Columbia released their “Homes for People Plan” that drastically reduced zoning and municipal barriers to the creation of gentle density homes. In summary, new legislation requires all local governments in British Columbia to update their zoning bylaws to allow up to three to four units in all single-family zones and up to six units for properties with frequent bus service.

This resource, developed by the province, is intended to help local governments and their community members understand the legislative changes introduced related to small-scale, multi-unit housing (SSMUH).

Note: The information in this tool kit is for guidance only and is not a substitute for provincial
legislation. It is not legal advice and should not be relied on for that purpose.

Key insights:

Single-family zones – which cover three-quarters of residential areas in many Northern American cities – can produce harmful side effects such as inflated land values, racial and economic segregation, and urban sprawl. In response, many communities are looking at ways to introduce “missing middle” housing into existing single-family neighbourhoods.

One of the most notable reforms in recent years was the Minneapolis 2040 Plan, implemented at the beginning of 2020. Housing policies in the plan made headlines as it meant Minneapolis became the first major city in the US or Canada to abolish single family- zoning, allowing duplexes and triplexes to be built on most residential blocks. The Plan also included several provisions related to denser housing, including eliminating parking requirements and upzoning transit corridors and downtown areas.

This Small Housing Case Study shares key details of the Plan, its impact to date, and what other communities can learn from it.

Key insights:

This guide paper addresses the ownership and operations of gentle density housing in British Columbia. It was created in collaboration with industry experts and includes key recommendations to remove barriers that reduce the viability and uptake of gentle density housing.

The actionable recommendations contained in this guide paper provide specific and clear direction to the responsible parties on how they can support the removal of barriers and enhance the viability of gentle density projects for the homeowner-developer in British Columbia.

Supporting and incentivizing homeowner-developer-led projects is, in the opinion of the roundtable, the most likely model to succeed at implementation at scale, while putting community and affordability first.

Key insights:

This Small Housing guidance paper presents research findings from interviews, focus groups and a multi-stakeholder roundtable, including the participation of industry experts, building officials and key government representatives to unpack current barriers to adoption and explore approaches to accelerating the use of offsite construction to grow gentle density supply.

This guidance paper provides background information, identifies key barriers and offers recommendations in seven areas:

1. Government Initiatives
2. Industry Collaboration and Knowledge Building
3. Municipal Toolkits for Offsite-Ready Local Governments
4. Offsite-Ready Construction Financing
5. Pilot Studies for Modular Streamlining
6. Standard Design Catalog and Design Competition
7. Enterprise Zone Incentives

Key insights:

This Small Housing Guidance Paper presents recommendations that will assist various actors involved in planning, designing and constructing energy efficient buildings, especially as it relates to new gentle density development.

It provides background information and identifies challenges and recommendations in eight key areas:

1. Building industry productivity and collaboration
2. Expertise gap in building sector
3. Training and skills development
4. Standardization and process improvement
5. Challenges with legislation and bylaws
6. Focus on embodied carbon
7. Energy modeling and verification
8. Infrastructure and utilities