PoCo falls short on first provincial housing target; province ‘failing spectacularly,’ says mayor

Despite active construction sites across the city, Port Coquitlam was about 150 units away from hitting the city’s one-year housing target, according to a recent staff report.

To comply with provincially-mandated housing targets, the city was supposed to have 343 new units ready for occupancy by July 31. A total of 191 net new units were finished.

However, those provincially-mandated housing targets are “a big farce,” Mayor Brad West said during Tuesday’s council meeting.

The targets are a way for the province to appear to be addressing the housing crisis when resources would be better utilized supporting the infrastructure that would support growth.

On that front, the province is “failing spectacularly,” West added.

“Maybe the province should have a target for schools, for hospitals, for family physicians, for any number of other things that they are responsible for,” the mayor said.

Setting municipal housing targets allows the province to work toward broader goals, stated former housing minister Ravi Kahlon.

“As we add new communities to the housing targets program to keep up with demand, we will continue to work together with municipalities to make sure more people can find homes that fit their needs and budgets,” he stated.

During Tuesday’s council meeting, both West and Coun. Darrell Penner emphasized the crucial role of market conditions in construction.

“We can’t control whether people choose to build or not,” West said, noting the city’s downtown is zoned for major density.

“Most of this is completely out of our hands,” Penner agreed.

A better criteria to evaluate a city council would be the number of projects it rejects, Penner added.

“We have turned down very, very little,” he said. “Almost nothing.”

Over the past year, an application to add six units of housing to Port Coquitlam was withdrawn. Council hasn’t rejected any housing proposals in the past year. However, a six-storey affordable rental project was deferred due to concerns around a dearth of parking.

The first target

Over the past year, a total of 221 new units were completed and 30 old units were demolished. The total of new units includes 121 below-market rentals.

Of the 30 demolished units, 25 were three- and four-bedroom units.

The new units include:

• Studio and one-bedroom units: 63
• Two-bedroom units: 94
• Three-bedroom units: 28
• Four-bedroom units: 6

The target ticks up over the next few years, with 381 new net units earmarked to be complete by mid-summer 2026 and more than 400 units due by the same point in 2027.

Port Coquitlam is tasked with adding a total of 2,279 new units by July 31, 2029.

There are currently 773 units at various stages of the development process, according to city staff.