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In Greater Victoria’s rush to embrace “missing middle” housing, multiplexes have been marketed as the Goldilocks solution: not too big, not too small, and just affordable enough, if at all, for the elusive middle‑income household. But when you examine the actual strata fees, operating budgets, and developer practices behind these new buildings, a very different picture emerges. What looks like affordability on paper is often a carefully engineered illusion, one that shifts lo

Bill 44 must be repealed because it represents a sweeping, top‑down restructuring of land‑use authority pushed through without public consultation and municipal partnership. It is, put simply, a governance bypass: a bill that strips away public hearings, sidelines elected councils, and replaces community‑driven planning with a one‑size‑fits‑all mandate drafted behind closed doors. Back in 2023, when the most invasive Housing Bills were pushed through, several opposition MLAs

British Columbia’s sweeping housing reforms and land‑use overhaul were introduced and passed months before the Province publicly declared a “middle‑income housing crisis” in February 2024 with the launch of BC Builds. This is when the provincial government formally asserted that “middle‑income housing crisis” required direct state intervention. This means the most aggressive zoning, density, and municipal‑power‑limiting legislation in B.C.’s history was justified after the f

Bill 44 delivers guaranteed density and instant land‑value inflation to developers and speculators, while handing residents the bill. It accelerates upzoning without requiring affordability, infrastructure investment, or accountability, fueling speculation instead of housing. Municipalities are left scrambling to fund the roads, sewers, parks, and emergency services this density demands, and Saanich’s tax spikes are the proof: public budgets absorb the costs while private act

Between January 1 and December 18, 2025, Cadboro Bay has faced an unprecedented assault on its natural heritage. In less than a year, active permits now threaten 168 trees - ranging from protective Arbutus and Garry Oaks to majestic Pines, Cedars, Cypresses, Dogwoods, Willows, Robinias, and Cherry trees. Only four permits were denied, all tied to single-family dwellings, but the reprieve is negligible: at least 30 trees have already been cut down in favour of multiplex develo

Setbacks in Saanich’s single‑family areas are often dismissed as technical zoning details, yet they are one of the0 most powerful tools shaping the municipality’s character, ecological health, and quality of life. Far from outdated, setbacks remain essential to preserving the green, spacious, and safe neighbourhoods that define Saanich. In a moment of rapid policy change and densification pressure, it is worth remembering why setbacks exist, and why they matter. Setbacks prot

Please see the following analysis on the loss of affordable housing across Canada: https://chec-ccrl.ca/filling-the-hole/ People...

The City of Victoria Urban Forest Master Plan (February 2013) recommends that a canopy cover goal of 40% would be appropriate for cities...

In many gateway cities – cities tightly locked into global flows of capital and people – immigration has become the largest component of...

The city of Victoria is embarking on a bold journey by revising its Official Community Plan (OCP). This includes an extensive upzoning...