A detailed and measurable vision for a safer, more affordable, more prosperous and better-managed city.
2026 to 2030
This sets out what Victoria can become over one full Council term, the measurable results that should define success and the practical work required to deliver them. It is intentionally focused on outcomes residents can see and verify.
The commitment
Victoria has extraordinary strengths: engaged residents, distinctive neighbourhoods, a beautiful natural setting, strong institutions, creative businesses and a downtown that serves the entire region. The city does not need to choose between compassion and accountability, growth and good design, safety and inclusion, or ambition and fiscal discipline. It needs clear priorities and competent delivery.
By 2030, residents should be able to see and measure:
- a safer city;
- more affordable homes;
- fewer people living outside;
- stronger businesses;
- better maintained neighbourhoods;
- a City Hall that listens and follows through.
That is the standard by which the next four years should be judged.
The vision
In four years, Victoria can be a city where people feel safe using downtown streets and neighbourhood parks; where housing moves from application to occupancy in years rather than being delayed by avoidable municipal processes; where fewer people live outside because housing, healthcare, treatment and recovery services work as one system; and where businesses, workers and families can see a future in the city.
Victoria can also become a city that manages public money with greater discipline. Major projects can have a clear scope, budget, schedule, risk plan and accountable leader. Residents can receive timely service, understand why decisions were made and see quarterly evidence of whether City Hall is delivering.
The goal is not simply to approve more policies. The goal is visible improvement in daily life: cleaner and safer public spaces, housing completed faster, a stronger local economy, reliable infrastructure, practical transportation choices and neighbourhoods that remain welcoming and distinctive.
What success looks like in 2030
- A downtown that is active from morning to evening, with fewer vacant storefronts, more customers and workers, and substantially fewer repeat safety and disorder locations.
- Fire protection that keeps pace with growth, with high-rise capability, safe emergency access, supported firefighters and stronger coverage for the Inner Harbour and Vic West.
- Housing approvals that are 50 percent faster, with the entire pipeline from application to construction start and occupancy reported publicly.
- A coordinated regional pathway that has moved approximately 1,700 people into appropriate housing and supports and reduced unsheltered homelessness to fewer than 100 people, subject to full participation by senior governments and health and housing partners.
- Twelve strong neighbourhoods, each with a funded improvement plan, safer streets, reliable basic services, accessible public spaces and a meaningful voice in City decisions.
- Transportation decisions based on evidence, with safer walking and cycling, reliable transit, functioning goods movement, accessible parking and protected emergency access.
- A City Hall that publicly publishes service standards, meets them at least 90 percent of the time, reports every major capital project openly and corrects course when results fall short.
The 2030 public scorecard
The scorecard should fit on one public webpage, use consistent definitions and show the baseline, current result, 2030 target, trend, accountable lead and corrective action. Detailed supporting data should remain available for review.
| Economy: Downtown retail vacancy below 6 percent; at least 10 percent net growth in active business licences or the verified equivalent; 90 percent of routine business services completed within standard. | Public safety: Violent and property crime down at least 20 percent; incidents at the ten highest-demand locations down 50 percent; at least 75 percent report feeling safe. | Fire and rescue: A funded, risk-based plan for staffing, equipment and high-rise response; protected emergency access; proactive firefighter mental-health support; stronger Inner Harbour and Vic West capacity; quarterly reporting on response performance and delivery. |
| Housing: Municipal processing 50 percent faster; 90 percent of complete applications within standard; 85 percent of approvals starting within 18 months; 80 to 85 percent of viable projects occupied within 3.5 to 4 years. | Homelessness: Approximately 1,700 appropriate placements created or secured; fewer than 100 people unsheltered regionally; at least 80 percent housing retention at 12 months. | Neighbourhoods and infrastructure: At least 48 neighbourhood priority improvements completed; all critical assets risk-ranked; corrective plans funded for high and critical risks; at least 100 accessibility barriers removed. |
| Transportation: Fatal and serious injury collisions down at least 30 percent; before-and-after reporting for every major street project; regional bridge and crossing business case completed. | Health and wellbeing: A funded and sited community medical centre plan capable of serving approximately 7,000 patients; treatment and recovery capacity reported; repeat crisis demand at priority locations down at least 25 percent. | City Hall: At least 90 percent compliance with service standards; every major program and capital project publicly tracked; 90 percent of major projects within approved cost and schedule range; verified 5 percent productivity improvement in selected services. |
A disciplined operating commitment
Every major initiative should answer seven questions: What result are we trying to achieve? What is the starting point? What is the target? Who is accountable? What will it cost? When will it be delivered? What evidence will show whether it worked?
Some outcomes are controlled primarily by the City. Others require the Province, the federal government, the CRD, Island Health, BC Housing, VicPD, service organizations and the private and non-profit sectors. The City should be precise about its own responsibilities, negotiate shared targets with partners and report publicly when another organization has not delivered its part.
The eight detailed outcomes
- A growing economy and a thriving downtown
- Safe and welcoming public spaces
- Housing delivered faster without lowering standards
- A pathway out of homelessness and addiction
- Strong neighbourhoods and dependable infrastructure
- Transportation that works for the whole city and region
- Accessible healthcare and stronger community wellbeing
- A City Hall that delivers value and earns trust
A coherent vision and the outcomes
These outcomes reinforce one another. Faster housing delivery supports affordability and economic growth. A stronger economy broadens the tax base and helps fund core services. Housing, treatment and healthcare reduce repeated crisis demand. Safer and cleaner public spaces support residents, businesses and tourism. Better transportation connects people to jobs and services. Strong project management protects the money needed for infrastructure and neighbourhoods.
The central choice is whether Victoria continues to manage problems through separate programs or organizes City Hall and its partners around a small number of measurable results. The second approach is demanding because it exposes delay and underperformance. It is also the approach most likely to produce visible progress within four years.
Victoria should be one of the easiest places in Canada to start, locate and grow a responsible business.
A strong economy is not separate from affordability or public services. It provides jobs, supports local shops and cultural organizations, attracts investment and broadens the tax base. Downtown must remain the economic, cultural and civic heart of the region, but it needs consistent safety, cleanliness, access and business support.
What would change
- Create one accountable economic development lead and one clear front door for businesses dealing with licensing, permits, construction impacts, loading, cleanliness and safety issues.
- Establish a business retention and investment pipeline focused on technology, clean energy, marine industries, professional services, tourism, education, creative industries and other sectors suited to Victoria.
- Coordinate downtown safety, public-realm maintenance, events, transportation access and business support through one action plan rather than separate departmental programs.
- Use City procurement, commercial property strategy and partnerships to strengthen local suppliers while respecting trade, competition and value-for-money requirements.
- Publish a quarterly city economy scorecard covering active businesses, openings and closures, employment, investment, commercial vacancy, downtown activity and business service times.
Specific four year targets
2030 target Commercial vitality: Reduce downtown retail vacancy to below 6 percent, using a verified and consistently defined 2026 baseline.
Business growth: Achieve a net increase of at least 10 percent in active business licences or the most reliable equivalent measure, while reporting openings and closures by sector.
City service: Complete at least 90 percent of business licences and routine business related permits within published service standards.
Investment: Maintain a public pipeline of prospective employers and investments and report jobs and private capital secured, without claiming projects before
Downtown confidence: Improve the annual downtown business confidence measure every year and reduce the share of businesses reporting repeated safety or access disruptions by at least 50 percent.
What residents should notice
More occupied storefronts, longer business hours, fewer unresolved street-level problems, faster answers from City Hall, and a downtown that is easier to reach, work in, visit and invest in.
People should be able to use streets, parks, transit stops and civic facilities confidently at any time of day.
Public safety requires visible policing, appropriate enforcement, prevention, environmental design, health and outreach responses, and clear pathways to housing and treatment. It also requires focus. Resources should be concentrated on violence, weapons, organized crime, repeat offenders and the locations that generate repeated calls for service.
What would change
- Use existing VicPD information as the policing foundation and combine it with City measures for bylaw response, cleaning, lighting, public-space conditions and perceptions of safety.
- Create location-specific plans for the highest-demand blocks and facilities, with an accountable lead, required partners, response timetable and review date.
- Expand visible foot and bike patrols where evidence shows they are needed and support a trained, supervised community safety volunteer program that complements police rather than replacing them.
- Complete lighting, sightline and environmental-design audits for priority locations and fund the highest-value fixes.
- Set service standards for needles, human waste, graffiti, damaged street furniture, abandoned material and other urgent public-realm problems.
Fire protection and my commitments to firefighters
A safer city also needs a fire service equipped for a growing, denser Victoria. My pledges to firefighters belong in the same public safety plan, with practical action through development reviews, street design, operating budgets and support for the people responding to emergencies.
- Advocate for multiple sets of stairs and means of egress in new multi-storey buildings, supporting safe firefighter access and occupant evacuation while working through applicable building code requirements.
- Provide additional staffing, equipment, training and resources appropriate to high-rise firefighting as Victoria grows vertically, guided by a clear assessment of risk and operational needs.
- Ensure traffic and street design accounts for emergency-vehicle dimensions, turning movements, access and response times, with Fire Department input before major designs are approved.
- Prioritize firefighter and first-responder safety in municipal policies, bylaws and development decisions, including coordinated measures to protect crews from violence while performing emergency duties.
- Support proactive mental health resources for firefighters, including prevention, early access to confidential support and follow-through on occupational stress and recovery needs.
- Strengthen resources and emergency-response capacity serving the Inner Harbour and Vic West, with a costed plan addressing coverage, access and the risks specific to these areas.
Specific four year targets
Serious crime: Reduce violent crime and property crime by at least 20 percent from a verified 2026 baseline, recognizing that policing outcomes also depend on courts, corrections, health services and provincial policy.
Repeat locations: Reduce calls or incidents at the ten highest-demand locations by 50 percent through focused plans and monthly review.
Sense of safety: Increase the share of residents and downtown users who report feeling safe to at least 75 percent, measured consistently each year.
Emergency response: Work with the Police Board and VicPD toward an average Priority 1 response time of six minutes or less, with transparent reporting on staffing and call demand.
Street conditions: Resolve at least 90 percent of urgent cleanliness and public-realm requests within published service standards and report repeat locations.
Community participation: Train and maintain at least 50 supervised community safety volunteers and expand Block Watch and neighbourhood safety participation city-wide.
Fire service readiness: Adopt and fund a risk-based fire service plan for high-rise capability and Inner Harbour and Vic West coverage; report quarterly on staffing, equipment, training, response performance, first-responder safety measures and delivery of proactive mental-health supports.
What residents should notice
A more visible safety presence, faster resolution of recurring problems, cleaner and better-lit public spaces, and clear evidence that the same locations are no longer generating the same level of harm month after month. Residents should also see a fire service prepared for a taller city, safer access for emergency crews and better-supported firefighters.
Success is not the number of applications approved. Success is homes completed and occupied.
Victoria needs more homes across a range of prices, sizes and forms. The City should remove avoidable delays, clarify requirements early and coordinate reviews, while maintaining building safety, accessibility, infrastructure capacity, environmental responsibility and good design.
What would change
- Create one digital record for each application showing its status, outstanding requirements, responsible reviewer and next action.
- Publish median and 80th-percentile processing times by permit category so difficult files are not hidden inside one average.
- Set distinct service standards for routine permits, complex multi-unit projects and rezonings, with an escalation process for stalled files.
- Expand pre-approved designs and standardized requirements where appropriate, especially for small multi-unit and missing-middle housing.
- Track the full pipeline from application to approval, construction start, completion and occupancy, including the reasons approved projects have not started.
- Use City-owned land strategically, choosing proposals on delivery speed, affordability, design quality, financial value and long-term public benefit.
- Include firefighter access and safe occupant evacuation in early development reviews, and advocate for multiple stairways and means of egress in new multi-storey buildings through the applicable building-code framework.
Specific four year targets
Approval speed: Reduce municipal approval and permit processing time by 50 percent from the verified 2026 baseline, reported separately by application type.
Predictability: Meet published processing standards for at least 90 percent of complete applications.
Construction starts: Have at least 85 percent of approved projects begin construction within 18 months, while identifying financing, ownership or market barriers outside City control.
Occupancy: Have 80 to 85 percent of viable projects reach occupancy within 3.5 to 4 years of application, with delays and withdrawn projects explained publicly.
Cost of delay: Reduce avoidable municipal carrying and process costs by at least 10 percent, using a transparent methodology developed with applicants and housing providers.
Reporting: Publish one quarterly dashboard covering applications, approval times, approvals, starts, completions, occupancy permits and stalled projects.
What residents should notice
Applicants know where their file stands. Builders and non-profit providers receive coordinated answers. Residents can see whether approvals become real homes. More projects proceed with fewer years lost to avoidable process.
Compassion must mean helping people move indoors and remain stable, while restoring public spaces for everyone.
Homelessness is a regional and provincial challenge concentrated in Victoria. No municipality can solve it alone, but Victoria can insist on one operating plan, named responsibilities, shared targets and transparent results. Different needs require different responses: emergency shelter, supportive housing, complex care, mental-health services, addiction treatment, recovery-oriented housing, transitional housing and permanent affordable housing.
What would change
- Establish a cross-agency delivery table with the City, CRD, Province, BC Housing, Island Health, police, Indigenous partners and funded service providers.
- Use a privacy-protected, coordinated person-level system so agencies know who needs what intervention and who owns the next action.
- Screen hotels, apartments, former care facilities and suitable commercial properties for acquisition or conversion based on cost per usable unit, time to occupancy and building risk.
- Create distinct pathways for people who need low-barrier shelter, supported housing, complex care, treatment, recovery housing or permanent housing.
- Tie municipal grants and service agreements to clear outputs and outcomes, including housing retention and successful service connections, while protecting client privacy.
- Apply consistent public-space standards once credible indoor options exist, avoiding the practice of simply moving people from one block to another.
Specific four year targets
People housed: Create or secure approximately 1,700 appropriate housing and support placements across the region within three years, with partners accepting clear delivery responsibilities.
Unsheltered homelessness: Reduce the regional unsheltered population to fewer than 100 people by the end of 2030. This is a shared regional objective contingent on provincial housing, health, treatment and operating support.
Housing retention: Achieve at least 80 percent housing retention at 12 months for placements supported through the coordinated system, reported by pathway type.
Rapid connection: Complete needs assessment and assign an accountable pathway lead within 14 days for at least 90 percent of people newly identified as unsheltered.
Treatment and recovery: Publish the number of treatment, detoxification, complex-care and recovery placements available, wait times and successful connections, and close the verified capacity gap with the Province and Island Health.
Public spaces: Eliminate entrenched encampments as the normal response to homelessness once adequate, accessible indoor options and supports are available.
What residents should notice
Fewer people living in doorways, parks and vehicles; faster movement into the right form of housing and care; fewer returns to homelessness; and clearer accountability when a promised housing, health or treatment resource is missing.
Every Victoria neighbourhood should share in the city’s progress while retaining its own character.
Great neighbourhoods combine housing, local shops, parks, trees, community facilities, safe routes, reliable utilities and a strong sense of belonging. They also depend on basic infrastructure that is inspected, maintained and renewed before failure becomes an emergency.
What would change
- Prepare a practical four-year improvement plan for each of Victoria’s twelve neighbourhoods, based on local priorities, asset condition, safety and equity.
- Coordinate parks, sidewalks, crossings, lighting, traffic calming, accessibility, community facilities and public-realm work so projects reinforce one another.
- Adopt risk-based asset management for water, sewer, roads, sidewalks, bridges, parks and civic buildings, including lifecycle cost and consequences of failure.
- Publish the condition, renewal schedule and unfunded liability for major asset classes.
- Require major developments to identify infrastructure demands early and use transparent, predictable contributions rather than late-stage negotiation.
- Strengthen neighbourhood consultation by publishing what was heard, what changed and why before major decisions are finalized.
Specific four year targets
Neighbourhood delivery: Complete at least one visible, locally identified priority improvement in each neighbourhood every year, for a minimum of 48 completed improvements over the term.
Infrastructure risk: Inspect and rank by risk 100 percent of critical assets and fund corrective plans for every asset rated high or critical risk.
Project readiness: Have fully defined scope, cost range, schedule, risk and operating impact before Council authorizes construction of every major capital project.
Accessibility: Remove at least 100 priority barriers in sidewalks, crossings, parks and civic facilities, selected with people who experience mobility barriers.
Trees and climate resilience: Achieve no net loss of public urban-tree canopy and increase planting in heat-vulnerable and low-canopy areas, with survival rates reported after two and four years.
Neighbourhood confidence: Improve resident satisfaction with core neighbourhood services each year and publish results by neighbourhood where sample size permits.
What residents should notice
Fewer failing sidewalks and surprise infrastructure problems, visible improvements across all neighbourhoods, clearer capital priorities, accessible public spaces and evidence that local input changed project design.
People need safe, reliable choices, and the network must function as one connected system.
Victoria should support walking, cycling, transit and mobility devices while recognizing the continuing needs of emergency vehicles, trades, deliveries, taxis, caregivers, people with disabilities and residents who must drive. Street space is limited, so major changes should be tested against measurable safety, travel-time, access and economic outcomes.
What would change
- Require before-and-after data for major street changes, including collisions, travel time, transit reliability, emergency access, goods movement, parking and neighbourhood spillover.
- Coordinate bridge approaches and regional corridors with Esquimalt, Saanich, the CRD and BC Transit before making changes that affect limited crossings or regional choke points.
- Review loading, accessible parking, short-stay parking, taxi and rideshare areas, delivery windows and construction closures block by block in the downtown.
- Complete connected walking and cycling routes by fixing the most dangerous gaps and intersections rather than measuring success only by kilometres installed.
- Support faster and more reliable RapidBus and evaluate future higher-capacity transit against demand, cost, land use and regional funding.
- Correct designs that create demonstrated safety or access problems and publish the evidence supporting the correction.
Specific four year targets
Road safety: Reduce fatal and serious-injury collisions by at least 30 percent from the verified 2026 baseline, while continuing toward zero traffic deaths.
Evidence: Publish before-and-after performance data for 100 percent of major transportation projects within 12 months of implementation.
Transit reliability: Work with BC Transit and regional partners to improve on-time performance and reduce travel time on priority corridors, with route-specific targets published after the 2026 baseline.
Emergency access: Complete emergency-response modelling for every major transportation network change, with Fire Department review of vehicle dimensions, turning movements, access and response times; avoid changes that materially worsen response without a funded mitigation.
Downtown access: Maintain a published inventory and utilization measure for accessible parking, loading and short-stay spaces, and correct blocks where verified demand cannot be met.
Regional crossings: Complete a business case for improvements to existing crossings, dedicated cycling capacity on the Bay Street Bridge and the long-term feasibility of an additional harbour crossing near the Selkirk corridor.
What residents should notice
Safer intersections, more reliable transit, fewer delivery and loading conflicts, protected emergency access and transportation decisions that can be adjusted when the evidence shows unintended consequences.
The City should use its land, convening power and partnerships to help close urgent gaps in primary care, mental health and addiction services.
Healthcare is primarily a provincial responsibility, but the lack of primary care and the toxic-drug crisis directly affect residents, emergency services, homelessness and public spaces. Victoria should not build a parallel health system. It should remove local barriers, assemble partners and help create community-based facilities that can be funded and operated by the appropriate health authorities and providers.
What would change
- Develop a business case for at least one Victoria community medical centre that combines longitudinal primary care, same-day access, mental-health and addiction supports, diagnostics and connections to housing services.
- Identify suitable City or partner sites and fast-track planning and permitting for publicly supported healthcare and recovery facilities.
- Work with Island Health and the Province to publish local service capacity, wait times and gaps for primary care, detoxification, treatment, complex care and recovery housing.
- Use community centres and trusted neighbourhood organizations for prevention, social connection, outreach and navigation where appropriate.
- Coordinate emergency response, health outreach, housing and public-safety data to reduce repeated crises without compromising privacy.
Specific four year targets
Primary care: Secure operating partners and open or commit funding and a site for a community medical centre capable of serving approximately 7,000 attached patients, subject to provincial clinical funding.
Crisis alternatives: Establish a published, jointly funded plan to reduce avoidable police, fire and emergency department demand arising from unmet mental health, addiction and primary care needs.
Treatment access: Publish a verified local capacity and wait time dashboard and secure enough provincial commitments to show measurable annual reductions in unmet need.
Emergency demand: Reduce repeat non-fire and preventable crisis calls at the highest-demand locations by at least 25 percent through coordinated health, housing and case management responses.
What residents should notice
More people connected to ongoing care, clearer alternatives to an emergency-room or police response, better coordination for people with complex needs and fewer recurring crises in the same locations.
Residents should know what City Hall promised, what it cost, who is responsible and whether it worked.
Good government is not measured by the number of strategies produced. It is measured by service, stewardship and results. Victoria should combine strong public engagement with disciplined execution, transparent budgets and a willingness to stop or redesign programs that are not producing value.
What would change
- Publish a concise Victoria Results Scorecard that tracks the outcomes and targets in this vision every quarter.
- Set service standards for resident-facing functions, including permits, licences, bylaw response, information requests and common service requests.
- Require every major initiative to state its legal authority, outcome, baseline, target, deadline, cost, accountable lead and current status.
- Use stage-gate approval for major capital projects so Council receives updated scope, cost, schedule, contingency and risk information before each commitment point.
- Conduct rolling service and expenditure reviews to simplify processes, digitize appropriate services, remove duplication and redirect resources toward higher-value work.
- Publish a clear response after major consultations explaining what was heard, what changed and why.
- Maintain a coordinated strategy for provincial, federal and partnership funding rather than pursuing grants project by project.
What residents should notice
Faster answers, fewer handoffs, clearer budgets, early warning when projects are drifting, and a City government that treats missed targets as a reason to improve rather than a reason to redefine success.
How the four year program can be delivered
First 90 days
- Direct staff to establish the Victoria Results Scorecard and publish authoritative baselines for every target.
- Publish current service standards and actual processing times for major permit, licence and resident-service categories.
- Create integrated housing, public safety, homelessness, economy and major-capital-project dashboards using existing data wherever possible.
- Establish the cross-agency homelessness delivery table and the downtown action table with named responsibilities and deadlines.
- Begin the City service and productivity review and identify quick process improvements that can be implemented within six months.
- Require every new major capital request to include scope, schedule, cost, contingency, risk and accountable leadership.
- Meet with Fire Department leadership and firefighter representatives to launch a risk-based review of high-rise response, Inner Harbour and Vic West coverage, emergency access, crew safety and proactive mental-health support.
Year one
- Confirm baselines, approve service standards and finalize partner dependent targets through written agreements.
- Launch one-stop business and development intake, digital file tracking and stalled-file escalation.
- Complete priority safety, lighting, accessibility, infrastructure and transportation audits.
- Select the first neighbourhood improvement in each of the twelve neighbourhoods and establish the four-year delivery schedule.
- Complete healthcare, recovery and housing capacity business cases and secure sites and funding pathways.
- Bring forward a costed fire-service readiness plan, with staffing, equipment, training, coverage and mental-health priorities; establish Fire Department review of major street designs and relevant development applications.
- Publish the first annual results report and revise actions where the evidence shows insufficient progress.
Years two and three
- Scale the programs that demonstrate measurable results and end or redesign those that do not.
- Deliver the majority of neighbourhood, accessibility, public-realm and high-risk infrastructure improvements.
- Accelerate housing approvals and monitor whether projects move into construction and occupancy.
- Expand regional housing, health, complex-care, treatment and recovery capacity against verified demand.
- Use annual budget decisions to close target gaps rather than adding disconnected initiatives.
Year four
- Complete committed projects, resolve remaining delivery risks and publish final term results against the original baselines.
- Independently validate major reported outcomes where practical, especially housing delivery, homelessness, crime, capital performance and savings.
- Publish an honest handover report identifying results achieved, targets missed, obligations under way and decisions required in the next term.
Rules for accountability
- Do not announce a final target without a defined measure, baseline date, data owner and reporting frequency.
- Do not count an approval as a completed outcome when the real objective is a home, service or project in operation.
- Do not hide missed deadlines by changing the baseline or scope without public explanation.
- Do not promise another government’s result. Publish the City’s commitment, the partner’s commitment and any unresolved gap.
- Do not continue a program solely because money has already been spent. Use evidence and future value to decide whether to continue.