TrueBlue Vancouver on housing: lower fees, faster permits, no Villages Plan
TrueBlue Vancouver would cut municipal fees, permit delays and regulations on home building, fast-track permits that meet existing rules, and encourage secondary suites and rentals. It opposes the Villages Plan and provincial density mandates and wants binding local input on development.
HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS · PAGES 11 TO 15
Affordability, Rentals and Zoning: what the 2026 Full Election Platform says
TrueBlue Vancouver says the cost of building a home is pushed up by city fees, slow permits and rules it calls unnecessary. Its answer is to cut those, fast-track any permit that already meets the rules, and encourage private builders. The same idea runs through its rental policy: the party wants it to be faster and cheaper for builders and owners to create legal rental units, including secondary suites and purpose-built rentals, while protecting the rights of tenants and landlords.
The chapter also covers homes for people with particular needs. TrueBlue would speed up permits for accessibility upgrades, secondary suites, seniors' housing and projects designed for people with disabilities. The party presents these as permit changes aimed at what it calls unnecessary approval delays. It gives no target for the number of homes and no time limit for a permit decision.
The second half of the chapter is about where density goes. The party strongly opposes the Villages Plan, a City staff proposal to rezone 17 village areas, which TrueBlue describes as sweeping density changes and top-down planning. It would reject provincial blanket-densification mandates, claim full local control over zoning, and give residents binding input on development proposals. It would also require infrastructure to be in place before density is added. The same zoning text is printed on pages 9 and 32 of the PDF.
Council sets zoning, approves rezonings and runs the permit process, so it controls most of this chapter. Provincial housing laws apply in Vancouver whatever Council decides, and only the Province can change them, so the party's rejection of provincial mandates would in practice mean asking the Province. The Villages Plan is a City staff proposal that Council decides on at a public hearing, so a council majority could reject it.
5 COMMITMENTS
What the party says it would do
Affordability
TrueBlue would reduce municipal fees, permitting delays and what it calls unnecessary regulations that increase the cost of building homes. It would fast-track permits that meet existing rules and encourage private-sector housing construction.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council sets the fees it charges on new building and controls the city permit process.
Housing accessibility
The party would streamline permits for accessibility upgrades, secondary suites, seniors' housing and projects designed for residents with disabilities, and reduce what it calls unnecessary approval delays.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council controls the city's own permit process and the staff who run it.
Rent and rental stock
TrueBlue would make it faster and cheaper for private builders and property owners to create legal rental units. It would encourage secondary suites and purpose-built rentals while protecting the rights of both tenants and landlords.
- Who has the power
- City, with others Council controls zoning and permits for new rentals, while tenancy law and rent increase limits are set by the Province.
The Villages Plan
The party strongly opposes the Villages Plan and what it calls its sweeping density changes. It would protect established neighbourhoods, parking, infrastructure and local decision-making from what it calls top-down planning.
- Who has the power
- City Council The Villages Plan is a City staff proposal that Council decides on at a public hearing.
Zoning
TrueBlue would enforce what it calls total local sovereignty over zoning decisions and reject provincial blanket-densification mandates. It would protect single-family and low-density neighbourhoods by giving locals binding input on development proposals, making sure infrastructure exists before density is added, and cutting municipal permit delays.
- Who has the power
- City, with others Council sets zoning and can give residents more say in its own process, but it cannot set aside provincial housing laws, which only the Province can change.
WHO WOULD HAVE TO ACT
Where the power sits for this chapter
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Questions about affordability, rentals and zoning
Does TrueBlue Vancouver oppose the Villages Plan?
Yes. TrueBlue Vancouver says it strongly opposes the Villages Plan and its sweeping density changes. The party would protect established neighbourhoods, parking, infrastructure and local decision-making from what it calls top-down planning (platform, page 15).
What is TrueBlue Vancouver's position on zoning and density?
TrueBlue would reject provincial blanket-densification mandates and claim what it calls total local sovereignty over zoning. It would protect single-family and low-density neighbourhoods by giving locals binding input on development proposals and requiring infrastructure before density is added (platform, page 15).
How would TrueBlue Vancouver make housing cheaper to build?
The party would reduce municipal fees, permit delays and regulations it calls unnecessary, and fast-track permits for projects that meet existing rules. It says it would encourage private-sector housing construction (platform, page 11).
What does TrueBlue Vancouver say about rentals and secondary suites?
TrueBlue would make it faster and cheaper for private builders and owners to create legal rental units, and encourage secondary suites and purpose-built rentals. The party says it would protect the rights of both tenants and landlords (platform, page 14).
Would TrueBlue Vancouver speed up permits for seniors and people with disabilities?
Yes. The party would streamline permits for accessibility upgrades, secondary suites, seniors' housing and projects designed for residents with disabilities, and reduce approval delays (platform, page 12).
Can Vancouver City Council reject provincial density rules, as TrueBlue proposes?
Council sets Vancouver's zoning and runs its permit process, so it controls fees, permit speed and its own plans such as the Villages Plan. Provincial housing laws apply in Vancouver whatever Council decides, and only the Province can change them, so on those mandates the city could only press the Province (platform, page 15).
ON THE BALLOT
The TrueBlue Vancouver candidates behind this
City Council
Sources
Every commitment on this page comes from the party's own material, marked SAYS SO ITSELF. It proves what the party says it would do. Who holds each power is our own addition, from the sources listed after it.
- TrueBlue Vancouver 2026 Full Election Platform, 49-page PDF SAYS SO ITSELFTrueBlue Vancouver · pages 11 to 15 · checked
- City staff propose the Villages plan, a rezoning of 17 village areas, for Council to decide at a public hearing Daily Hive · checked