PoCo falls short of provincial housing target

After failing to complete the assignment, Port Coquitlam needs to hand in some extra homework.

The city between rivers and rails is required to submit a six-month interim report to the province after missing its Year 1 housing target, according to a recent release from the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs.

Over the next five years, Port Coquitlam is tasked with adding 2,279 new units of housing.

Between August 2024 and July 31, 2025, Port Coquitlam added 191 new units – short of the target of 343 units.

The interim report is meant to: “ensure that communities stay on track,” the release stated.

While the city can work to process permits efficiently, the final construction timeline is “largely outside of the city’s control,” noted Port Coquitlam’s director of development services Bruce Irvine in a statement to the Dispatch.

While the market is sluggish due to economic uncertainty, an increased interest rate, skilled labour shortages and higher construction costs, the city will likely get closer to the province’s Year 2 housing target of 724 units, Irvine reported.

A “significant number of projects” were approved by the city before the province issued its targets, Irvine explained.

Earlier this year, city council approved a revision allowing for a pair of highrises totalling 358 units at Westwood Street and Anson Avenue.

Irvine couldn’t say how much staff time would need to be allotted to the interim report.

“At this time, we cannot estimate the time required to complete the six month interim report until we receive more information from the ministry,” Irvine replied.

Several councillors have criticized the provincial housing legislation as both heavy-handed and ineffective.

“They’ve taken 50 years of urban planning and flushed it down the toilet,” said Coun. Dean Washington at a meeting in October.

Council will make decisions in the best interests of residents, even if that means failing to comply with provincial legislation, said Mayor Brad West at the time.

“If we were to follow the province’s housing target order to the letter the only thing that would be built here one-bedroom condos basically which, guess what? People don’t want,” West said.

Provincial legislation included scrapping public hearings for OCP-compliant projects, mandating a minimum level of density around transit hubs, and allowing small-scale housing – generally between four and six units – on lots formerly earmarked for single-family homes.

“By having these targets, all levels of government will be able to align to address the housing crisis and help build more affordable housing for people in these communities for years to come,” explained then Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon in 2024.

Port Coquitlam led on below-market rentals among a collection of 10 municipalities grouped together by the province.

Seven of the 10 municipalities surpassed the province’s one-year housing targets. In total, the group has delivered more than 3,600 new homes, according to the province.