By Roy Woods, Special to the Times Chronicle

Osoyoos will need 303 new housing units by the end of next year and 1,018 units by the end of 2041 according to an updated “Housing Needs Assessment” presented to council recently.

Over the next 10 months, the town will use the tools at its disposal – the Official Community Plan (OCP) and zoning bylaws – to create conditions to allow the development of the needed housing units.

The needs assessment is part of the process by which the town will do its part to implement the BC government’s agenda to address what it sees as a province-wide housing crisis.

The town’s needs assessment is contained in a larger, consultant-driven report created for the entire RDOS. The requirement for local governments to provide the assessments came out of 2019 amendments to the Local Government Act, the statute that provides the province the power to dictate the actions of municipal governments.   

The first assessments emerged in the early 2020s and are required to be updated every five years. 

The province further clarified its housing goals in November 2023 with more amendments to the Local Government Act. 

According to a report from planner Shannon Duong to council, the amendments were intended to intent to deliver “more small-scale, multi-unit housing for people, including townhomes, triplexes and laneway homes, and fix outdated zoning rules to help build more homes faster.

“In addition to the introduction of new density requirements, the amendments … also set out new requirements in relation to the completion of Housing Needs Reports and associated Official Community Plan (OCP) and zoning bylaw amendments.”

The requirements included:

  • By January 1, 2025, local governments must complete interim housing needs reports that cover the number of housing units required over the next five years and 20 years, actions that have been taken to reduce housing needs and an assessment of supports for alternative transportation;
  • By December of this year, municipalities are required to complete OCP and zoning bylaw amendments to “pre-zone” for the required number of units identified under the needs report; and 
  • By December 31, 2030, and then every five years, municipalities must amend their OCP and zoning bylaws accordingly.

According to Duong, the needs update fulfills the town’s requirements for reporting under the act, providing a comprehensive overview of housing needs for the next five and 20 years.

She noted, however: “The report does not … provide for specific solutions or strategic recommendations, but rather, is a collection of data and information to support future decision-making and for developers to consider as they undertake future housing projects.

“Importantly, the Housing Needs Report shall be used as the foundation for future OCP and zoning amendments, which seek to address the housing needs identified under the report via ‘pre-zoning.’ 

“The intent of the required OCP and zoning amendments is to ensure that a regulatory framework is in place that will support the development of the housing units required to facilitate the projected growth of the Town by removing the burden of rezoning on developers and property owners.”

Duong pointed out that the town received an extension from the province to December 2029 to comply with the Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing requirements of the act. However, it is unclear whether the new December 2025 deadline will impact the extension. Consultation with the province is planned.

Several Osoyoos-specific findings emerged from the 78-page assessment, which was written by Vancouver-based Urbanics Consultants:

  • The population of Osoyoos is projected to grow from 5,693 in 2021 to 7,012 in 2041;
  • The number of seniors – 65 and older – will increase from 2,573 in 2021 to 2,954 in 2041, although their proportion of the population will fall from 45 to 42 per cent; 
  • Seventy-six per cent of working Osoyoos residents work in the town, with 21 per cent elsewhere in the RDOS and two per cent who commute outside the regional district;
  • Osoyoos had a median total household income of $66,000, which is 78 per cent of the province’s median at $85,000; and
  • Osoyoos had a home ownership rate of 81 per cent in 2021, higher than the provincial rate of 67 per cent.

As for next steps in the housing needs process, town administration will develop plans for OCP and zoning bylaw amendments to bring to council over the course of the coming months.