July 27, 2026
Executive Summary from Small Housing BC
Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH) is a key component of British Columbia’s efforts to address housing affordability and increase housing supply. Recent provincial legislation, including Bills 44 and 47, has expanded opportunities for a broader range of housing forms across many communities. While local governments have largely completed the required zoning and policy updates, still many practical implementation hurdles remain in the way of delivering this form of housing at scale.
To better understand regional conditions, implementation challenges, and opportunities for support, Small Housing BC and the Planning Institute of British Columbia (PIBC) undertook a province-wide engagement process through the Provincially supported Peer Learning Network (PLN). PIBC's Peer Learning Network is funded by a one-time contribution from the Province of British Columbia to enable peer-to-peer learning about provincial housing legislation and related matters. The research included twelve key informant interviews with planners and local government representatives, as well as seven regional engagement sessions involving 47 participants representing municipalities, regional districts, consultants, and planning professionals from communities across the province. The project also included the collection and review of implementation resources, examples, and supporting materials shared by participants.
The findings indicate that nearly all local governments have successfully implemented the regulatory requirements associated with SSMUH. However, participants emphasized that housing delivery is now constrained less by zoning regulations and more by infrastructure capacity, financial feasibility, staffing resources, building code complexity, and applicant readiness.
Across all regions, infrastructure servicing emerged as the most significant barrier to housing delivery. Participants also highlighted rising construction costs, financing challenges, limited municipal and industry capacity, and growing demand for support from homeowner developers and small-scale builders. While regional conditions vary, many implementation challenges are shared across jurisdictions.
The engagement process identified strong demand for practical implementation resources to support both local government staff and applicants throughout the housing delivery process.
Based on both the prioritization exercise and regional discussions, several resource categories were identified as having broad value across BC. These include homeowner and small-builder development guides, SSMUH implementation guides, permitting roadmaps, development feasibility and financing resources, building code interpretation guidance, and resources related to strata, subdivision, and ownership models. Participants also highlighted the need for design and housing delivery resources, such as site planning examples, successful SSMUH case studies, modular and prefabricated housing resources, and housing visualization tools.
Technical resources related to infrastructure planning, servicing coordination, funding, and asset management were also identified as priorities, alongside capacity-building resources including industry training, peer-learning networks, and implementation case studies. Participants expressed strong interest in greater regional collaboration to support implementation. Priority opportunities included regional information-sharing and learning networks, SSMUH monitoring and project showcasing, shared technical capacity and professional support, shared approaches to standardized housing designs, and initiatives to increase modular and prefabricated housing uptake.
Overall, the findings suggest that local governments are seeking practical, implementation focused resources that help bridge the gap between legislative reform and housing delivery. As British Columbia moves beyond policy adoption and into the next phase of SSMUH implementation, future efforts should prioritize practical tools, technical guidance, capacity building, and regional collaboration to help translate housing policy reforms into meaningful housing outcomes.