While Oak Bay failed to meet mandated housing targets last year, a new report says the district wasn't deliberately trying to thwart provincial legislation.
In 2023, as a way to increase the province's supply of housing, B.C. set housing targets in 10 communities. The list included Oak Bay, which was ordered to build 664 new units within five years.
However, the district fell behind, raising only 16 of the 56 units it was tasked with constructing in 2024. In comparison, Saanich built about 77 per cent of its mandated 440 units, while Victoria exceeded the 659 units it was ordered to erect.
“They've significantly missed their target, and the message that we're getting back from mayor and council is that they're doing great, things are fine – but they're not,” B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon told The Oak Bay News in January.
The minister soon assigned a housing advisor to the district to "make recommendations to support our shared goal of building homes for people."
Victoria-based James Ridge Consulting undertook a two-month review, which included an analysis of the district’s development approval processes and housing policies and practices.
The resulting 39-page report highlighted that, while Oak Bay isn’t likely to meet its housing targets this year either, there was no evidence that it tried to circumvent the province's housing rules.
While the advisor also said that Oak Bay is making "reasonable efforts" to meet its housing targets, the report identified a list of processes, practices and circumstances that have hindered housing approvals in the district.
Among them: Oak Bay’s reputation for being anti-development, an outdated Official Community Plan (OCP), and a tendency to bring even minor variance requests before council – something the report warns can politicize the approval process. It also noted that “misaligned zoning” means most housing projects require rezoning.
In response, Kahlon directed Oak Bay on May 22 to change its bylaws to streamline approvals. The district must amend its development application procedures bylaw to allow staff – not council – to approve minor variances. It also must revise its parking facilities bylaw to require only one parking stall per unit in multi-unit buildings, down from the current minimum of more than one.
The district will have 30 days to submit written comments regarding these directives before they're issued. Both changes must be made by Jan. 31, 2026.
“This is not about punishing communities or removing authority from locally elected municipal councils,” the minister said in a May 22 news release.
“The goal of local housing targets is centred around working with municipalities to remove unnecessary barriers to affordability and get more homes built for people faster.”
In a May 22 email to The Oak Bay News, Mayor Kevin Murdoch commented on the directives.
“Oak Bay has considered delegation of minor variances, and to this point has not agreed on what constitutes ‘minor.’ That is work already underway and will likely be considered by council well before the province’s January 2026 date,” he said.
The mayor added that new parking requirements are part of the district’s ongoing OCP update, which it expects to complete by the fall of 2025.
“The report supports all of the points the district has raised with the ministry over the last two years about the unique constraints in Oak Bay and the work undertaken to address housing needs,” Murdoch added.
“The provincial narrative to date has implied that Oak Bay has been obstructive to housing, and the report shows that is not the case. Can Oak Bay improve our processes and approaches? Of course, and as the report lays out clearly, we continue to invest in making that happen.”
