Province Issues Housing Target Order For Courtenay

Monday, August 25, 2025 at 7:38 AM

By Jay Herrington

B.C. Premier David Eby, with Christine Boyle, the minister of housing and municipal affairs, during a news conference at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver in 2024. (PHOTO CBC)

The Province has issued a Housing Target Order for the City of Courtenay, one of several communities included in the fourth round of orders by the Province.

The targets, effective September 1, 2025, are based on need and projected growth and are an outcome of the Speculation and Vacancy Tax that was expanded to include Courtenay earlier this year.

Courtenay Mayor Bob Wells said the City is already setting a high standard for the pace of new development and its support for housing initiatives, working closely with both non-profit organizations and the broader development community to deliver more housing.

Wells says the City is seeing, on average, more than 400 new dwelling units built each year, and the vacancy rate has improved significantly.

The five-year housing target for the City of Courtenay is 1,334 net new completed housing units.

The Housing Target Order requires the City to report annually on progress on new housing units as well as municipal actions and partnerships to enable more housing supply.

Since 2022, Courtenay has, among other things, removed the need for Council approval on minor variances, reduced parking requirements, allowed secondary suites and accessory units in residential zones, and rezoned over 60 per cent of properties in the city to allow small-scale, multi-unit housing which permits up to four units.

The City also eliminated rezoning requirements for secondary suites and accessory units, adding nearly 1,700 new homes in the city since 2021.

Courtenay’s Housing Needs Report released in 2024 sets a target vacancy rate of at least 3 percent.

As of 2024, and for the first time in several years, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported a 4.6 per cent vacancy rate in Courtenay.

The City is in the process of updating the Official Community Plan by the end of 2025 to meet the targets set in the Housing Needs Report, a requirement set by the B.C. government for all local governments in B.C.

To learn more, visit City of Courtenay.