OneCity vows to restore Vancouver climate priorities, launch solar energy project | Daily Hive

OneCity promises to restore Vancouver climate priorities, launch public rooftop solar electricity project

William Azaroff. (William Azaroff)

OneCity Vancouver is promising to make it cheaper to install heat pumps, provide cooling systems to hundreds of vulnerable residents, and reverse building-related climate policy changes made under Mayor Ken Sim and the ABC Vancouver party.

Ahead of the October 2026 civic election, OneCity has announced early platform promises that direct the City of Vancouver to reprioritize climate action considerations in its policies and strategies.

If elected, OneCity says its candidates would spend the first three months of the term identifying climate-related policies changed under ABC.

The party would then seek to restore funding for retrofit programs and compliance measures through the City’s 2027 budget, with further permitting and bylaw changes planned for 2027 and 2028.

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OneCity states it would restore the previous zero-emissions heating requirement for new low-rise residential buildings and reverse recent changes that allow natural gas to be used for heating and hot water in new building construction.

The municipal government’s previous rules, which took effect in January 2022, required zero-emissions equipment for space and water heating in new low-rise residential buildings. City Council subsequently approved a new compliance option allowing natural gas heating and hot water in new construction, which took effect in 2025.

OneCity is also promising to restore enforcement of the City’s Annual Greenhouse Gas and Energy Limits By-law for large existing buildings. City Council voted in May 2026 to pause enforcement, meaning owners currently face no penalties for failing to submit required energy and carbon reports while City staff review the program.

At the time of the various decisions, the ABC majority asserted the policy changes would provide the flexibility needed to better support housing affordability.

All the while, BC Hydro is also facing a major electricity shortfall over the coming years due in part to municipal and provincial regulations that have accelerated the transition of building systems from using fossil fuel-based energy — particularly natural gas — to zero-emission equipment that depend on the provincial electrical grid. BC Hydro is now preparing to spend tens of billions of dollars on new electrical infrastructure to increase its generation and transmission capacity, with the utility also announcing recently it will consider building additional major hydroelectric dams and buy a natural gas power plant to help avoid electricity shortages.

OneCity was also responsible for the municipal government’s previous climate action-centric policies. In 2019, then-OneCity city councillor Christine Boyle introduced a member motion calling on City staff to create an ambitious comprehensive plan to reduce emissions and prioritize climate action. That motion led to City staff’s creation of a wide range of dozens of projects and policy initiatives framed under the Climate Emergency Action Plan (CEAP), which was approved by the previous makeup of City Council in 2020.

Aspects of CEAP have since been deprioritized, suspended, or cancelled by ABC, such as the renewed flexibility for natural gas use in building systems. CEAP also contained the highly controversial strategies of implementing mandatory pay parking permits on all residential streets across Vancouver, which was cancelled by the previous makeup of City Council in 2021, and mobility pricing/road tolling for Downtown Vancouver and the Central Broadway area, which was cancelled by the ABC majority shortly after the 2022 civic election.

OneCity and its mayoral candidate, William Azaroff, stated today that its five-part “Built to Last” plan is a combination of climate action, home energy upgrades, and protection against increasingly severe summer heat.

This includes the platform promise of the City taking on the new role of being an electricity generator.

The plan would expand the use of solar power on publicly owned buildings, including schools, libraries, and community centres.

OneCity says it would establish a Public Rooftop Solar and Community Energy Program — partly inspired by the City of New Westminster’s Urban Solar Garden, which is operated through the municipal government’s electric utility. Similar to New Westminster’s system, a subscription-style model would be explored to give renters, housing co-op residents, and non-profit organizations access to solar electricity benefits even if they do not control a suitable rooftop themselves.

Other measures proposed by OneCity include topping up BC Hydro incentives for solar panels and battery systems, introducing a retrofit program targeted at lower-income households, expanding thermal energy systems similar to the City’s False Creek Neighbourhood Energy Utility, and restoring requirements affecting the replacement of aging natural gas equipment.

New Westminster Queensborough Community Centre

Construction of the first urban solar garden on the rooftop of Queensborough Community Centre in New Westminster. (City of New Westminster)

A major component would be a new City-funded program to directly install cooling, air filtration systems, and heat pumps in the homes of Vancouver residents considered most at risk during extreme heat.

OneCity estimates about 500 high-risk homes could initially be addressed at a gross cost of between $4 million and $7.5 million. The party says the City’s share could be reduced by combining municipal funding with programs offered by BC Hydro, the provincial and federal governments, and non-profit organizations.

Their proposal is partly being framed around the deadly June 2021 heat dome.

“Six hundred and nineteen of our neighbours died because they didn’t have a way to stay cool in their own home,” said Azaroff. “We must treat people as more than statistics.”

Another key campaign promise would substantially reduce City Hall permitting costs for homeowners switching from natural gas equipment to electric heat pumps.

OneCity claims the municipal government’s current fee structure can result in combined mechanical and electrical permit fees of roughly $767 for a heat pump conversion, compared with as little as $67 to replace one gas appliance with another.

The City’s 2026 fee schedule shows a mechanical permit for a one- to three-storey building starts at $432, plus $15.30 for each kilowatt of capacity. An electrical permit is also required for a heat pump installation.

OneCity states it would instead create a streamlined, flat-rate permitting process aimed at ensuring homeowners are not charged more by the municipal government for switching to a heat pump than they would be for remaining with natural gas.

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