16 Metro Vancouver mayors urge B.C. government to unwind housing legislation | Daily Hive

16 mayors of Metro Vancouver urge Premier David Eby to unwind B.C.'s housing legislation

Mike Hurley. (City of Burnaby)

A coalition of 16 Metro Vancouver mayors is calling on the Government of British Columbia to repeal and revise key housing legislation, warning that recent laws aimed at accelerating housing construction are misaligned with local planning realities and risk undermining municipal autonomy.

In a letter in late November 2025 addressed to Premier David Eby, shared with Daily Hive Urbanized earlier this week, the mayors expressed “collective concerns” about provincial housing measures, including Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH), Housing Supply Target orders, and Transit-Oriented Area (TOA) legislation.

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The letter was initiated by Burnaby mayor Mike Hurley, and signed by Surrey mayor Brenda Locke, Richmond mayor Malcolm Brodie, Coquitlam mayor Richard Stewart, Langley Township mayor Eric Woodward, Delta mayor George Harvie, Maple Ridge mayor Dan Ruimy, North Vancouver District mayor Mike Little, Port Coquitlam mayor Brad West, West Vancouver District mayor Mark Sager, Port Moody mayor Meghan Lahti, White Rock mayor Megan Knight, and Pitt Meadows mayor Nicole MacDonald.

Other signatories include the leaders of three small local jurisdictions — Anmore mayor John McEwen, Lions Bay mayor Ken Berry, and Belcarra mayor Jamie Ross.

The letter was sent to Premier Eby following a meeting of the mayors in late November.

The mayors argue that province-wide mandates fail to reflect the diverse geographic, infrastructure, and market conditions across Metro Vancouver. In particular, they say SSMUH requirements have triggered land speculation in some areas, disrupted neighbourhood cohesion, and diverted municipal government staff resources away from locally tailored housing initiatives.

Earlier this fall, in response to resident concerns, Burnaby City Council reduced the permitted size of new multiplex homes — now smaller than what is prescribed by SSMUH legislation.

Concerns were also raised about the housing target orders, which the mayors say hold municipalities accountable for factors beyond their control, such as financing conditions and broader economic trends that impact market demand and construction costs.

The housing target orders are based on residential units actually reaching completion, not municipal approvals. While the municipal governments have approved projects representing thousands of housing units, construction has stalled in many cases due to high interest rates and weakened consumer confidence, the letter notes.

TOA legislation also came under criticism. According to the mayors, the uniform density requirements imposed by the provincial government do not align with Metro Vancouver Regional District’s collaboratively developed regional land use framework and fail to account for differences in local infrastructure capacity. They warn that the legislation limits municipalities’ ability to plan transit-oriented development in a way that reflects local conditions and coordinated regional transportation planning.

While critical of the legislation, the mayors emphasize that they share the province’s goal of increasing housing supply and affordability. They call for renewed collaboration across all levels of government and are urging the provincial government to initiate consultations on legislative amendments affecting Metro Vancouver municipalities.

“Achieving these goals requires cooperation across all levels of government,” the letter states, adding that the region’s long-standing commitment to complete communities and livable neighbourhoods should be leveraged through partnership rather than top-down prescriptions and stipulations.

The mayors conclude by expressing hope for a “collaborative dialogue” with the provincial government to develop housing solutions that balance regional needs with local planning authority.

Since the B.C. NDP–led provincial government began rolling out housing-related legislation two years ago, a number of municipal governments have been particularly outspoken in their concerns about the directives, warning of unintended consequences and, in some cases, attempting to resist implementation. Coquitlam and Burnaby were among the largest municipalities most critical, ultimately approving bylaw changes to bring itself into compliance in order to avoid the possibility of direct provincial intervention.

Over the years, Burnaby’s municipal government has also asserted that it has been the leader in transit-oriented development in B.C. — made evident by how the City has enabled significant high-rise densification around the SkyTrain stations within its jurisdiction — long before TOA mandates were created. It has also argued that changes to how cities can collect public benefit contributions from developers in exchange for rezoning approvals has led to a major shortfall in funding new and improved community and recreation centre projects.

To date, the provincial government has focused particular attention on the District of West Vancouver and the District of Oak Bay, citing both for falling short of their housing target orders and for failing to implement policy changes needed to achieve those targets.

According to a statement issued Hurley, the provincial government’s most recent proposed piece of legislation, Bill 216, called the “Professional Reliance Act,” was the “breaking point” for the mayors. If it is approved, he says, the legislation would “blur the line between technical expertise and democratic governance, reduce oversight, sideline local voices, and ultimately lead to more work and higher costs later in the development process.”

Burnaby’s mayor also asserted the importance of public hearings, which he says are “one of the most fundamental parts of our local democracy.” However, provincial legislation has banned public hearings for rezoning applications that propose building forms and uses that already largely align with a municipal government’s Official Community Plan.

“These same provincial changes have removed public hearings for most routine residential rezonings, limiting opportunities for direct local input leading to more built-up frustration,” said Hurley, who is also the chair of the board of directors for the regional district.

In a statement calling on the provincial government to reverse course the various pieces of housing legislation, Port Coquitlam mayor Brad West said the provincial policies are “throwing decades of thoughtful community planning out the window.”

“They impose blanket housing density rules everywhere, regardless of whether a community has the infrastructure to support it or whether residents want it. This one-size-fits-all approach hands control to bureaucrats in Victoria who have never walked our streets, don’t understand our neighbourhoods, and takes decision-making away from the people who were elected to represent them, their local councils,” wrote West.

Furthermore, he adds, “all of this happens without public hearings, silencing the voices of residents who deserve a say in shaping their community. This is an unprecedented overreach by the Provincial Government — one that undermines local democracy and ignores the realities of the communities we serve. And it was created behind closed doors with zero consultation.”

These renewed, joint calls from the region’s mayors also come less than a year before the October 2026 civic election, a period when municipal officials are likely feeling increased pressure from constituents to oppose certain provincial policies and specific development proposals. Despite this political pressure, municipal governments remain legally bound to comply with directives issued by the provincial government.

Hurley says the provincial policies are causing “strain and divisiveness” in his community.

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