Slow permit approval and outdated zoning laws contributing to Canada’s housing crisis 

Avery Doll 

April 5, 2023 

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Photo credit: Creative Commons 

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Real estate prices are steadily climbing across Canada and are preventing many people from buying their first home. 

Even as prices drop slightly from their pandemic-era peaks, they are still well above pre-2020 levels. 

This has is largely attributed to interest rate hikes from the Bank of Canada amidst fears of a recession. However, this is only a temporary solution.  

Many have argued the most obvious solution to this crisis is to build more housing, but in cities such as Vancouver, this is easier said than done. 

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(Full graph: https://www.datawrapper.de/_/yCWDo/)  

  

Peter Waldkirch is a lawyer who works for Abundant Housing Vancouver, an advocacy group that wants cities to make it easier to build more housing. The group is also demanding greater accountability from municipal governments.  

Waldkirch believes the city’s outdated zoning laws are the biggest obstacle to more accessible housing. 

“Vancouver might be known as a dense city full of skyscrapers, but that’s not really accurate. Over 50 per cent of the city’s geographic land is actually zoned for low-density housing and only 15 per cent of Vancouver’s households live in this area, so it’s a very inequitable use of the land,” he said. 

These municipal regulations prevent the construction of much-needed apartments and townhomes that are affordable to a much wider range of people than single-family homes. 

 

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(Full graph: https://www.datawrapper.de/_/aw3Ow/)  

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Slow permit approval has also been a major contributor to BC’s slow housing growth. 

Cities like Vancouver and Surrey take far longer than others to approve permits, mostly due to strict design regulations. 

“Vancouver has a very complicated permitting process where they micromanage almost every new building, and there are very complex design and character guidelines that make building things such as multi-family housing a very lengthy process,” Waldkirch says.  

Recently, in January 2023, the provincial government announced a new housing strategy, available here, that aims to streamline the permitting process by moving applications to a single department. While this change could be well-received by the public, it is not yet known whether it will be successful in its goal of accelerating housing production. 

Even outside of cities, real estate prices across the country continue to rise as they are impacted by other factors largely stemming from the effects of COVID-19.   

During the pandemic, demand for larger houses on larger plots of land increased significantly. This, combined with supply shocks contributed to the record-high prices seen in 2021 and early 2022. 

However, that trend has changed somewhat going into 2023. 

Rising interest rates have led to many people not being approved for mortgages, while others who have been approved are experiencing a significant decrease in their budgets. These factors have contributed to the reduced number of houses sold. 

Areas seeing the greatest price increases, such as Vancouver, are also seeing the greatest decreases. 

While these price drops are good news for many, there is no guarantee they will last forever, especially if the market and economy stabilize. 

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(Full graph: https://www.datawrapper.de/_/VvHST/)

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This crisis is not one that can be solved overnight, but for those who have been waiting for years to become homeowners, any new laws or regulations that make it easier to build homes will likely be seen as a welcome change.