OCP and Zoning Bylaw Update

To align with provincial legislation, we're updating the tools used to plan our communities. 


In response to new provincial housing legislation changes, the City is proposing updates to its Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaw. These updates would include changes to meet provincial requirements in a meaningful way for our City, while a more fulsome update to our Official Community Plan is anticipated to start in 2028, subject to Council’s direction. As we plan for future growth, we’re committed to keeping our city livable and vibrant.

We’re proposing two strategies to meet provincial requirements for growth:

growing livable neighbourhoods icons

The City is considering low-density housing up to four units in some residential areas and up to six units in the city centre and frequent transit areas. We can use low-density housing to grow livable neighbourhoods by gently increasing the availability of homes while still maintaining the existing look and feel of our residential neighbourhoods. 

aerial shot of CNV
We’re exploring increasing density on City Lands near the city center and frequent transit areas. This will provide the City and Council a higher degree of control over the pace and rate of growth, help optimize the value of City assets, fund City amenities, and provide a diversity of housing types. 

Why are we updating our planning tools?

Recently, the Government of British Columbia introduced a suite of changes to rapidly increase housing construction across the province. As part of these changes, the City (along with other cities across B.C.) is required by provincial legislation to:

  • Calculate their 20-year housing needs using a calculator from the Province.
  • Build capacity into their planning tools to accommodate this 20-year housing supply. 

In response to these changes, the City of North Vancouver:

  • Completed an Interim Housing Needs Report in December 2024, which outlined the City’s anticipated 20-year housing needs.
  • Determined how much of the 20-year housing need is already accounted for in the City’s planning tools and how much additional capacity is still needed. Through this, we know that the Zoning Bylaw needs updating to add capacity for another 6,556 housing units. To add that capacity into the Zoning Bylaw, some changes to the Official Community Plan may be required.

Next Steps 

The City has a provincial deadline to complete this work by the end of the year.

  • Community engagement 
    July 2025
    City staff conducted pop-ups, a community workshop, a town hall meeting and a survey to collect feedback.
  • Bylaw Changes First Reading 
    October 6, 2025
    Council meeting to consider bylaw changes to the City’s planning tools.
  • Public Hearing
    November 17, 2025
    An opportunity for the public to share feedback with Council on the proposed updates.
    Learn more about this process on our Public Hearings and Meetings page.
  • Council Decision
    December 8, 2025
    Council makes a final decision on the proposed updates. 
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