Once on the province’s housing “naughty list,” Maple Ridge appears to be a city reformed.
The B.C. housing minister wrote to Maple Ridge city council about surpassing its target for new housing, as set by the province, last year.
“I commend the city for exceeding its first-year housing target of 612 new net units by delivering 751 net new units,” noted Christine Boyle, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs in correspondence dated Oct. 8.
“I also note the city has several projects at various stages of the development approval process that, if completed, could support the city in achieving housing targets in future years.”
Boyle said further she is encouraged by the city’s “innovative policies, streamlining of processes, strategic planning and implementation of new digital tools that showcase concrete steps the city is taking to enable more housing in the community.”
She also listed the city’s updating of the Official Community Plan and zoning bylaw to align with provincial requirements, bylaw updates, developing pre-approved site plans, launching a Certified Professionals Program, and implementing the Housing Ready Strategy and online portal for digital building permit applications as ways the city is dedicated to adding housing options.
Mayor Dan Ruimy wanted to highlight the correspondence, and he recently defended the city from accusations of being inefficient, brought by a group from the development community, who met with MP Marc Dalton.
In June of 2023, the city was on a list of 47 municipalities that the province wanted to ramp up housing production, dubbed the “naughty list” in the media.
“We’ve been challenged in the past with timelines, not making it easy for developers, and certainly there are some legacy projects that have been there for a while that we’re working through,” said Ruimy at council on Oct. 14.
However, he said new initiatives, many outlined by the minister, “will make things go smoother.”
“We’re currently sitting on about 150 rezoning applications, and another 450 development applications,” he said. “There are lots of developers who want to build here, and we want to make it easy for them to be able to make that to happen.”
He noted the city has been growing at twice the national rate, at 11 per cent per year, which is why building is a priority.
“We want to make sure that we have a home for everybody, in any situation,” said Ruimy.
The city’s next annual housing report to the province will be due on Aug. 14, 2026.