New Westminster, B.C. – On July 30, 2024, the Province of British Columbia announced issuance of a Housing Target Order for 10 municipalities, including the City of New Westminster. The target for New Westminster is 4,432 net new housing units over five years from August 1, 2024 to July 31, 2029. The Province has also issued guidelines for how those units should be distributed based on number of bedrooms, rental, below market, and supportive units.

The provincial target is higher than the City’s 2021 Council-endorsed target of 5,841 net new units over 10 years, which was based on a provincially-mandated Housing Needs Report. While the City of New Westminster is supportive of ambitious targets to address the housing crisis and will strive to meet these accelerated targets, the City recognizes that significant investments in infrastructure, park spaces, schools, and high-quality amenities will also be vital to maintain a livable community.

“The City of New Westminster has always valued our partnership with the Province in advancing our work to realize the needs of our community,” said Mayor Patrick Johnstone. “And now more than ever we need to work shoulder-to-shoulder to create communities that not only offer the necessary housing options for our citizens, but also provide the required and necessary services that residents need and deserve.”

In receiving the Housing Target Order, the City has begun the process of setting new baselines for necessary infrastructure and amenity investments to support anticipated growth and are engaged in discussion with the Provincial Government on funding models to assure that financial tools are in place to build a complete community for all residents.

The City of New Westminster has long maintained its commitment to addressing the regional housing supply by actively supporting high-density development and affordable housing options.

“Over the past 10 years, Council has approved all high-density zoning applications and every application for affordable and non-market housing it has seen. The City also recently completed a comprehensive review of its development review process and determined there were no fundamental issues that were causing undue delays to the review process.” said Jackie Teed, Director of Planning and Development.

Progress on the target and issues arising will be closely monitored with findings shared in a six month interim report and subsequent annual progress reports.

To learn more about Housing Target Order for the City of New Westminster, please visit newwestcity.ca/housingtarget

-30-

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Ashleigh Young
Manager of Communication
City of New Westminster
| 604-527-4559