More housing in the Regional District of Nanaimo's rural areas will be required to meet a growing need, a consultant's report suggests.
The B.C. government is directing the RDN to compile a housing needs report by 2028, with an interim report due this month. Data in the 2025 report will need to include projections of housing needs for the next five and 20 years utilizing census data and reports from the province. The RDN enlisted Deloitte Canada for the interim report and at its Jan. 9 electoral services area committee meeting, the consultant was on hand for a presentation and to answer directors' questions.
Jamie Vann Struth, Deloitte senior manager of economic advisory, said numbers are determined by looking at projected population and household growth over the next five years and projecting how many units are needed to meet that projected growth category.
According to the consultant's report, Cedar-South Wellington-Yellowpoint-Cassidy (Area A)'s total housing need is 387 single and multi-family dwellings in the next five years. Gabriola and surrounding islands (Area B) will need 367 units, Extension-Nanaimo Lakes-East Wellington-Pleasant Valley (Area C) will need 216 and Nanoose Bay (Area E) will require 472. In all, rural areas will need 2,810 units over the five-year span, the report noted.
"We also did estimates for single-family [dwellings] versus multi-family, given that this is a primarily rural area, it's not highly urbanized, a lot of the homes are still single-family," Vann Struth said. "There is increasing amounts of multi-family development happening, but the expected demand is still going to be majority for single-family going forward."
According to the report, 291 single-family units and 96 multi-family will be required for Area A, 279 single-family and 88 multi-family for Area B, 170 single-family and 46 multi-family for Area C and 363 single-family and 109 multi for Area E.
A motion to receive the report, forward it to the B.C. housing ministry and post to the RDN website was met with some resistance. Lehann Wallace, French Creek area director, didn't want to merely post the report online and "give it credibility that I think is lacking in the lack of context." During the meeting, she wondered about the ability to achieve units in areas restricted for water supply, requiring extensive re-zoning or outside of the urban containment boundary.
Wallace also wondered about including an amendment speaking to the challenges of growth in electoral areas based on lack of grant funding and infrastructure "in order to grow." Jessica Stanley, Area A director, successfully amended the motion so that it will include supplemental information when posted online.
While the RDN won't be required to amend official community plans and zoning legislation by Dec. 31 to reflect report data, like municipalities, it can still choose to review OCPs and bylaws later, stated a report from RDN staff.
After 2028, the RDN will be required to file a new housing report every five years.
The City of Nanaimo and District of Lantzville compiled their own interim housing needs reports .
