Housing Faster Without Lowering Standards

By Jerry Garcia

The Challenge

  • Victoria has increased housing capacity and exceeded its first two provincial housing targets.
  • An estimated 8,000–9,000 homes are still needed to address accumulated demand.
  • High rents and limited housing choices affect workers, families, seniors, students and people needing supportive housing.
  • Approving housing is not the same as completing and occupying it.

The Goal

  • Deliver more completed homes across a wider range of housing types.
  • Reduce unnecessary delays, duplication and uncertainty.
  • Make requirements, responsibilities and timelines more predictable.
  • Coordinate housing with infrastructure, transportation and utilities.
  • Preserve safety, accessibility, environmental, design and neighbourhood standards.

Intended Result

  • More approved projects reaching construction and occupancy.
  • Faster, clearer and more predictable housing delivery.
  • Infrastructure planned alongside growth.
  • More housing choices for residents at different incomes and stages of life.
  • Transparent reporting and corrective action when targets are missed.
  • Faster housing without compromising safety, quality or public confidence.

Where Delays Occur

  • Unclear requirements before applications are submitted.
  • Incomplete applications and repeated design revisions.
  • Conflicting or fragmented comments from City departments.
  • Sequential reviews that could occur at the same time.
  • Council scheduling, permit revisions and inspection delays.
  • Utility coordination, financing, labour, material and market challenges.
  • Limited visibility into where an application stands and who is responsible.

A Coordinated Housing Delivery System

  • Manage housing as an end-to-end process, from site feasibility to occupancy.
  • Make housing delivery a shared City responsibility rather than a Planning only function.
  • Coordinate Planning, Engineering, Building, Transportation, Parks, Finance, IT, Legal and external utilities.
  • Create a Housing Delivery Office with clear leadership and cross-departmental authority.
  • Establish one coordinated technical review and one consolidated response to applicants.
  • Publish service standards for each major stage of the process.
  • Provide digital application tracking, status updates and next steps.
  • Align housing approvals with infrastructure and capital planning.

Support Diverse Housing

Increase the supply of:

  • Purpose-built rental housing.
  • Attainable ownership opportunities.
  • Family-sized and accessible homes.
  • Seniors and student housing.
  • Supportive and recovery oriented housing.
  • Duplexes, triplexes, townhomes and other middle-sized housing.

Five-Year Roadmap

Year 1: Build the Foundation

  • Adopt a Housing Charter and establish clear governance.
  • Appoint accountable leadership and launch the Housing Delivery Office.
  • Set budgets, schedules, risks, service standards and dashboard requirements.
  • Publish the first public housing delivery dashboard.

Year 2: Modernize Operations

  • Standardize applications and improve pre application guidance.
  • Introduce integrated technical reviews and digital workflows.
  • Regularly publish the public housing delivery dashboard.

Year 3: Integrate Infrastructure

  • Connect housing forecasts with utilities, transportation and capital plans.
  • Sequence growth according to infrastructure readiness.

Year 4: Improve Performance

  • Audit workflows and benchmark Victoria against comparable cities.
  • Refine service standards and measure customer satisfaction.

Year 5: Institutionalize Improvement

  • Complete a five-year performance review.
  • Update the framework and make continuous improvement standard practice.

Measure Results That Matter

Public reporting should track:

  • Completed and occupied homes.
  • Housing starts and occupancy permits.
  • Total time from application to occupancy.
  • Applications completed within service standards.
  • Housing types and affordability.
  • Infrastructure readiness.
  • Applicant satisfaction and resident confidence.
  • Reasons for delays, including whether they are controlled by the City, applicant or another organization.

Clarify Municipal Responsibility

The City can directly influence:

  • Land use and zoning.
  • Permits and inspections.
  • City-owned land and facilities.
  • Infrastructure coordination.
  • Procurement and contract transparency.
  • Public space management.
  • Partnerships and advocacy.

The City cannot independently control:

  • Healthcare and treatment capacity.
  • Income assistance.
  • Provincial housing programs.
  • Policing, prosecution or corrections.
  • Decisions made by Island Health, BC Housing, the CRD or senior governments.

First 100 Days

  • Adopt the Housing Charter and establish governance.
  • Name the executive sponsor and program director.
  • Launch the Housing Delivery Office.
  • Draft service standards and dashboard measures.
  • Confirm departmental responsibilities.
  • Establish baseline approval and delivery times.
  • Select priority processes for improvement.
  • Publish the implementation and reporting calendar.