Official Community Plan Housing Policy Update

In 2023, the Province amended the Local Government Act, requiring local governments to review their Zoning Bylaw and Official Community Plan (OCP), and if necessary, update them to accommodate their 20-year total housing needs by December 31, 2025. Staff completed a technical review of the District’s Zoning Bylaw and OCP housing capacity and identified a need to update the OCP’s housing policies to comply with Provincial legislation.

On Monday, December 1, 2025, Council adopted the Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 4985, 2018, Amendment Bylaw No. 5406, 2025, which now brings the OCP in alignment with the 2024 Interim Housing Needs Report. More information, including project history and information about the process can be found here.

In December 2024, the District prepared its Interim HNR using provincial methodologies and data, which identified a housing supply need of 10,742 units in 20-years.

Analysis of our Zoning Bylaw identifies a remaining capacity for 29,200 units, which exceeds the 10,742 units required. This means no updates to the Zoning Bylaw are necessary to meet Provincial requirements.

On the other hand, analysis of our OCP estimated a remaining capacity for 9,850 units. This means we need to plan for approximately 900 more units to meet our 20-year housing needs, and update the OCP by December 31, 2025 to comply with Provincial legislations.
- Learn more about our Housing Needs Reports
The Official Community Plan (OCP) shapes the future of West Vancouver: how housing needs can be met, where shops, services, and community facilities are located, how we move around, how we can protect the environment, and how we respond to climate change. The current OCP is the result of a four-phase collaborative process with the community over two years, and is being implemented since its adoption by Council in 2018.
- View the Official Community Plan
- Learn more about the 2018 OCP Process
The Local Government Act (LGA) requires local governments to assess their 20-year housing needs using Provincially prescribed method and data, and to publish a new Housing Needs Report every 5 years. After each report, they must review – and, if necessary, update – their Zoning Bylaw and OCP to ensure sufficient housing capacity to meet the updated 20-year needs.

The next Housing Needs Report update is due by December 31, 2028.