Tyee reviews ABC council's housing record and what parties are promising

According to The Tyee's October 13, 2026 report, the ABC-led council introduced a multiplex program, removed minimum parking requirements, updated the Broadway Plan, and pre-zoned portions of the Broadway Plan area. The council also approved the Granville Street Plan, the Rupert and Renfrew Station Area Plan, and the Vancouver Official Development Plan. However, the Vancouver Housing Development Office and the Villages Plan both failed to pass. ABC councillors voted to eliminate the city's renters office and froze new construction of supportive housing. The Social Housing Initiative, which would have allowed 20-storey social housing towers, was rejected.

ABC told The Tyee that 92 per cent of renovation permits are now being issued within three days, that approvals for detached homes improved by 36 per cent since 2022, and that approvals for multi-family and mid-rise developments improved by 46 per cent. However, the party told The Tyee that it has not consistently reached the service standards it set for itself under its 3-3-3-1 permitting framework, which aimed for three days for renovations, three weeks for detached homes, three months for multi-family projects, and one year for highrise projects.

ABC told The Tyee that 896 multiplex homes had been approved by the end of 2025 under the multiplex program that council introduced in 2023. Two ABC councillors later introduced a motion calling for a review of the multiplex policies. The party described the program as giving Vancouver more housing choices including rental, family-sized, ground-oriented and middle-income housing.

An audit published in 2025 found that 72 per cent of recreation facilities in Vancouver were rated in poor condition or worse, according to The Tyee's October 13 report. Andy Yan, director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University, cited this figure when commenting on what was missing from the ABC council's term, which focused heavily on adding new housing supply rather than maintaining existing infrastructure.

According to The Tyee's October 13, 2026 report, COPE is promising to triple the empty homes tax, lobby the province to introduce vacancy control so rents cannot be raised an unlimited amount between tenancies, support community land trusts to build and protect affordable housing, and purchase currently affordable rental buildings. COPE councillor Sean Orr, who is running for re-election, told The Tyee the city has not built enough deeply affordable and shelter-rate housing.

The Tyee reported on October 13, 2026 that TEAM, running Colleen Hardwick for mayor, is promising to repeal the Broadway Plan, the Jericho Lands plan, and the Rupert and Renfrew plan. TEAM says there is already enough housing development planned to meet population growth until 2050 and wants to reform multiplex zoning to require setbacks and reduce the number of units allowed, so new buildings fit better with existing neighbourhoods.

According to The Tyee's October 13, 2026 report, OneCity is promising to construct 4,000 affordable homes on city-owned land, using federal funding and innovative construction methods. The party wants to acquire existing affordable rental buildings to protect them from redevelopment and is championing a 'four storeys and a corner store' approach to allow more density in areas dominated by single-family homes. OneCity councillor Lucy Maloney, who is running for re-election, told The Tyee she was disappointed the Villages Plan did not pass.

According to The Tyee's October 13, 2026 report, Pete Fry's Green Party of Vancouver is promising to create an affordable housing position at city hall focused on delivering affordable housing, develop city land for affordable housing, strengthen relocation protections for tenants who lose housing due to development, and streamline permitting for all housing development. The Greens would also reverse ABC's supportive-housing freeze and restore the city's renters office. OneCity and COPE have agreed not to field mayoral candidates, in hopes of unifying the vote behind Fry.

Voters can compare all six main parties' housing commitments in The Tyee's October 13, 2026 article at thetyee.ca. Voche.me also carries profiles of the mayoral candidates including Ken Sim, Pete Fry, Rebecca Bligh, Colleen Hardwick, and Kareem Allam, and party pages for each of the parties running in the election. Advance voting has ended; general voting day is October 17, 2026.