Surrey will create an “as-of-right” zoning for non-market rental housing.
City council agreed with a recommendation to direct staff to bring forward bylaw amendments to remove the rezoning requirement for non-market affordable housing units that are compliant with the Official Community Plan (OCP).
It’s one of the actions identified in the city’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) Action Plan, which includes increasing the supply of below-market affordable housing by removing barriers to the provision of units.
Council earlier this year endorsed the 2025 Surrey Housing Needs Report, which estimates that Surrey will need 53,111 new housing units in the next five years, with approximately 10,911 of those units needing to be affordable rental housing to meet the community’s needs.
Non-market housing refers to housing that is protected from market forces, generally owned and operated by non-profit or government agencies and includes a diverse range of housing types, such as rental housing, co-operative housing, supportive housing and shelters, a recent report explains.
Most non-profit housing providers and co-ops rely on federal and provincial government funding streams to construct non-market housing projects.
The report adds that, in 2024, Surrey had 6,349 non-market housing units. Of those, 1,655 units were non-profit rental and/or co-op units, however, per capita, Surrey has fewer BC Housing-affiliated non-market housing units than the regional average.
There is a significant demand for non-market rental housing in Surrey, especially as the cost of housing in the private market has increased, the report notes.
The zoning initiative proposes changes to the zoning bylaw to allow eligible non-market rental and co-operative housing projects up to six storeys to proceed without the rezoning process. It would apply to sites owned and operated by registered non-profit housing providers or non-profit housing cooperatives, in areas designated for low-rise residential development.
In 2023, the city received approval for $95.6 million from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to support housing supply, accelerate growth and foster community development over three years.
The HAF Action Plan consists of eight initiatives designed to increase Surrey’s housing supply in both the short and long-term, along with a HAF Spending Plan.
Another update report explains that the HAF funding will be provided in four equal annual installments, contingent upon annual progress reports, concluding by December 2026. The city has until September 2027 to utilize the funds in accordance with the Action Plan and Spending Plan.
