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- Nov 30 - North Saanich's housing targets get provincial attention
Nov 30 - North Saanich's housing targets get provincial attention
The weekly roundup, and Spectrum's new sports field is in sight
Capital Daily Team
November 30, 2025
Good morning !
Welcome to the last day of November. Good to see Santa here yesterday, scouting for his return trip three and a half weeks from now.
I’m planning on putting up my Christmas decorations this week.
That’ll be the earliest I can remember getting my place all festive.
How about you?
— Mark
When do you put up the tree and decorate for Christmas? |
Today’s approx. read time: 6 minutes
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Housing minister considering appointing adviser to help North Saanich hit targets
A housing development in Colwood. The community has exceeded its first-year target by more than 200%. Photo: James MacDonald / Capital Daily
North Saanich was singled out by the province this week as a municipality with “more work to do,” having only completed 20% of its first-year housing target—12 of its goal of 60 net new units.
The district was given its five-year target last spring, joining dozens of other municipalities that are under pressure from the province to densify.
Housing Minister Christine Boyle is considering appointing an adviser to the peninsula town to oversee its housing approval process and develop recommendations to improve progress.
In May, the North Saanich council received a warning letter from former housing minister Ravi Kahlon. In it, the minister said the district provided “insufficient detail” on its plans to increase housing in its progress report and that it was at risk of not meeting its first-year target.
However, the council voted to shut down any discussion of the letter at the time. It now has 30 days to respond to the province about the possible appointment of an adviser.
Of the Greater Victoria municipalities to receive targets in 2024, North Saanich is the only one struggling—the other two have exceeded their goals by more than 200%. View Royal has built 260 of its target of 99 net-new units, and Colwood has built 397 of its 178-unit goal.
If an adviser is sent to North Saanich, it wouldn’t be the first Greater Victoria municipality to get dinged by the province for not meeting targets.
An adviser was appointed to Oak Bay, which had been singled out multiple times by Kahlon for being one of the “most unaffordable places in BC.” The district was among the first 10 municipalities to be given targets in 2023, along with Saanich and Victoria.
Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch pushed back against the criticism. In a Jan. 15 letter, he told Kahlon that the municipality can only approve housing, not build it. He says there is zoning in Oak Bay for 15K additional units, but not enough developers are looking to build.
The municipality was instructed to amend its approval process to speed up development.
Saanich has fallen short two years in a row, though not by much. The district was told to build 4,610 housing units in five years. By now, it should have built 1K+ units, but it has only completed 810.
Victoria has been exceeding its annual targets for some time—the city has now achieved nearly half of its five-year goal, and it has done so within two years. It has approved occupancy permits for 2,359 net new units out of its goal of 4,902. However, the city is falling behind on affordable offerings, with only 363 below-market units approved in the last two years (the provincial guideline is 1,798).
⚠️ Capital Bulletin
Recall: Angelbliss Baby Bassinet Bedside Crib. [Health Canada]
Oak Bay residents near Lansdowne and Beach asked to check camera footage after at least $5K in mischief damage. [OBP]
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