---
title: "Surrey council votes to absorb city-owned development company back into City Hall"
description: "Surrey City Council voted on November 9 to direct staff to begin reintegrating the Surrey City Development Corporation into City operations. Only Councillor Harry Bains voted against."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/surrey-2026/news/surrey-scdc-reintegration-council-vote-november-2026"
last_updated: "2026-11-11T19:17:44.487Z"
---

Surrey City Council voted on November 9 to direct staff to begin reintegrating the Surrey City Development Corporation into City operations, Daily Hive reported. The vote was part of Mayor [Doug McCallum](/bc/surrey-2026/candidates/doug-mccallum)'s 16 election commitments that council adopted at the same meeting. [Harry Bains](/bc/surrey-2026/candidates/harry-bains), the sole Surrey Connect member on council, cast the only vote against.

The Surrey City Development Corporation, known as SCDC, is a City-owned, for-profit company that develops municipal land, attracts investment and generates revenue through real estate projects, Daily Hive reported. It currently operates as a separate entity with its own staff, management and board of directors. Daily Hive reported it was established in 2007.

## What Bains said

Bains argued against the change, saying as reported by Daily Hive: "An organisation like the Surrey City Development Corporation is accountable to the city. Absorbing SCDC into regular city operations risks losing flexibility, focus, and commercial approach."

The reintegration reverses a 2022 decision by the previous council under Mayor Brenda Locke to restart SCDC as an independent entity. Daily Hive reported this is the third major change in the company's structure since 2020.

Council's vote on SCDC was one part of a larger set of decisions at the November 9 meeting. The Safe Surrey Coalition holds eight of nine seats on council, giving McCallum the numbers to pass each priority. Bains requested separate recorded votes on five of the 16 priorities, including the SCDC motion.

## What happens next

City staff have been directed to begin the reintegration process. No timeline was announced at the November 9 meeting. Staff will return to council with a report on the steps and costs involved.

The November 9 vote is recorded as one of McCallum's election promises. Residents can follow progress on this commitment and all others at the [promise tracker](/bc/surrey-2026/tracker).

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/bc/surrey-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.