Mayor outlines five housing realities he says should reshape Burnaby debate

In a letter to Burnaby residents, Mayor Mike Hurley says factory-built modules were lifted into place this week at an East Burnaby modular-housing pilot. Supported by Modular BC, the National Research Council and external pilot funding, it will test whether modular construction can deliver some needed housing faster and more efficiently. He says it is not a silver bullet, but an example of the innovation and collaboration required.

Hurley says British Columbia’s Bill 44 small-scale multi-unit housing requirements, in effect in Burnaby since 2024, require multi-unit housing on lots formerly zoned for single- and two-family homes. He says Burnaby had already developed a 10-year strategy through its Task Force on Community Housing, engagement with thousands of residents and local housing analysis, and argues the provincial approach is not working.

He says municipalities are responsible for planning and zoning, not building homes, and that Burnaby has added substantial density around its four town centres. Other governments, he says, must fund affordable housing, hospitals, schools and major transportation infrastructure. Additional density without supporting plans can strain schools, transit, parks, recreation, shops, parking, high-speed internet, water and waste services; related costs can fall on taxpayers or developers and increase prices, rents and utility fees.

Hurley says Burnaby’s growth-should-pay-for-growth approach requires beneficiaries of added density to contribute to the necessary infrastructure and amenities. About 25,000 approved housing units in Burnaby have not proceeded to construction, and the City cannot compel construction or occupancy, he says. With nearly 4,000 vacant and unsold units across Metro Vancouver, he argues the problem is also affordability and delivering housing that is needed.

He says affordable housing, including below-market and non-market homes, needs all three orders of government. He says the latest BC Budget reallocated nearly $1.4 billion in housing investments over its current three-year fiscal plan and indefinitely suspended the Community Housing Fund, a main program for municipalities and non-profits building affordable rental housing.

Hurley says Burnaby opposed the 2025 Professional Reliance Act, Bill M 216, and that he wrote to Premier Eby for 16 mayors seeking a pause and reconsideration of provincial legislation. Burnaby’s housing authority has two approved projects planned to deliver 387 rental homes, including 183 rental townhomes with Mosaic.

The City amended its zoning bylaws to comply with Bill 44 while seeking to reduce local impacts. Its R1 changes lower the height and size of small-scale multi-unit projects; Burnaby’s height rule is one metre below the provincial guideline of at least 11 metres for three-storey SSMUH zoning. The City also reduced permitted lot coverage below the Province’s recommended 60 per cent, requires larger front-yard setbacks and increased parking requirements where authorized.