Housing Needs Report

The City of Nanaimo retained City Spaces Consulting to prepare a Housing Needs Report for Nanaimo in 2023 and 2024. Housing Needs Reports are required by the Provincial government and funding was provided by the province for both projects. The findings of Housing Needs Reports inform plans, policies, and development decisions. Housing Needs Reports identify current and emerging housing needs, and support a strategic approach to land use planning and implementation.

The 2024 Housing Needs Report is available here.

The 2023 Housing Needs Report is available here.

Progress
The 2023 and 2024 Housing Needs Reports are complete.
Documents
2024-DEC-16 Interim Housing Needs Report - Council Report
City of Nanaimo Housing Needs Report - Engagement Summary Report
Regional District of Nanaimo Housing Needs Assessment
Nanaimo Affordable Housing Strategy
2021-JUN-07 UBCM Housing Needs Grant Application Council Report
2023-JUN-12 Housing Needs Report - Council Report and PowerPoint
Details
Background
The City of Nanaimo completed a 10-year Housing Needs Report in early 2023 that met the Local Government Act requirements at that time. However, due to the November 2023 changes to the Local Government Act, a new housing needs report was required by 2025-JAN-01 using an updated analysis methodology. Provincial Capacity Funds were used to retain a consultant to prepare the November 2024 Interim Housing Needs Report.
The Provincial housing legislation introduced in late 2023 amended a broad range of planning and land use tools for local governments, including the requirement to estimate 5- and 20-year housing need with a specific provincially mandated analysis method. Both the 2023 and 2024 Housing Needs Reports relied on 2021 Census data, however, since a new analysis method has been used, which considers more factors, much more refined and accurate housing needs estimates can be found in the 2024 Interim Housing Needs Report.

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