Vancouver’s New 20-Year Growth Plan Is Now Law
Vancouver’s development rulebook officially changed on July 31, when the city’s new “Our Vancouver 2026-2045” Comprehensive Plan and updated zoning map and code took effect, replacing a planning framework that had been in place since 2011.
The City Council adopted the plan on June 1 after years of community input. It’s built around one number: Vancouver expects to add 81,000 residents by 2045, which the city says will require at least 38,000 new homes and 43,000 new jobs to keep pace.
For contractors, the practical impact will show up gradually rather than all at once. The city has been clear that the plan and code are policy and regulatory updates, not a city-led development project — meaning change will roll out as property owners bring individual projects forward under the new rules, not through a single wave of construction. Anyone pulling permits in Vancouver going forward will be working under the new zoning map, and the city has said it plans to revisit the plan and code on a more frequent basis through an annual review process, rather than letting it sit untouched for another fifteen years.
Worth watching: how the new code treats density, missing-middle housing types, and mixed-use zoning — all areas that will directly shape what residential and commercial builders are permitted to construct on infill lots across the city.
What contractors should do now: Pull up the city’s interactive zoning lookup tool for any address you’re bidding on, even if you’ve built in that neighborhood before — the underlying rules may have shifted.
Sources:
- City of Vancouver, Community Development — https://www.cityofvancouver.us/departments/community-development/
- City of Vancouver, Comprehensive Plan — https://www.cityofvancouver.us/business/planning-development-and-zoning/comprehensive-plan/
