Vancouver Liberals mayoral candidate Kareem Allam says the party would scrap the city’s Building By-law and streamline housing approvals to speed construction if elected.
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The Vancouver Liberals have released a housing plan aimed at reducing what they describe as long construction timelines, arguing that the city’s current regulatory process is contributing to multi-year delays for new housing. The plan was unveiled by mayoral candidate Kareem Allam as part of the party’s campaign for the upcoming municipal election.
Central to the proposal is a commitment to scrap the Vancouver Building By-law, which Allam said adds significant time to the development process. In a statement, Allam compared the current pace of building to a much larger historical undertaking, saying it “takes Vancouver eight years to build a high-rise apartment building,” and that the rate of construction is not addressing housing needs facing the city now.
Allam also said the Liberals would adopt the B.C. Building Code as the governing standard for building requirements in place of the city’s by-law. He argued that following additional steps tied to the Vancouver-specific by-law creates “years and years of wait times for every single project,” adding millions of dollars to high-rise developments.
The plan further includes an administrative change intended to reduce overlap and delays in approvals. The Vancouver Liberals said they would merge the 12 departments that approve new housing developments into a single approval structure, with the goal of making the process cheaper and faster.
Allam framed the proposed changes as necessary to avoid the ongoing gap between housing supply and demand in Vancouver. He said, if “things don’t change,” development will continue to lag behind what he described as the city’s needs.
Other parties’ housing platforms also show a range of approaches ahead of voting day on Oct. 17. The Green Party of Vancouver’s mayoral candidate, Pete Fry, has said his campaign would focus on approving homes faster, offering more housing choices, and prioritizing Canadian-built construction.
According to the Green Party’s platform, it would launch pre-approved housing designs and work with Build Canada Homes to attract investment and fast-track projects that qualify for those arrangements. The Green Party also said it would support the Vancouver Building By-law to allow “innovative climate, mechanical, and built-form solutions,” including references to mass timber and decarbonization.
Vote Vancouver mayoral candidate Rebecca Bligh, a current city councillor, has laid out pillars for her affordability and development strategy that include building permanently affordable homes for middle-income earners on public land. Her platform also includes not-for-profit childcare built into all new developments.
Team for a Livable Vancouver, led by mayoral candidate Colleen Hardwick, said it would rely on cooperation between governments and the private sector to deliver housing that middle-income households can afford. The party also said it would prioritize low-income, supportive, and secure rental housing.
ABC Vancouver, with Ken Sim seeking re-election, released its platform earlier this week with public safety, affordability, and jobs and the economy as its main pillars. The party has not released its full policy document and has not yet provided detailed housing proposals, according to the available information.
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