Pitt Meadows at just 5.5 percent of year-one housing target 6 months after provincial order
Pitt Meadows has achieved just 5.5 percent of its provincially mandated first-year housing target, providing just six net units in the first six months since the order.
Several councillors described it as a “frustrating” situation that reflects broader market conditions rather than municipal inaction.
Mayor Nicole MacDonald’s response to the province: “I told you so.” She said the city could have achieved more without the provincial imposition.
“This is basically what we’ve told the province from the beginning,” MacDonald said. “And what’s also incredibly frustrating is … the level of work that staff have done in the background since the imposition and mandate of this housing legislation, the amount of staff resources and costs that have gone into this.”
Staff report to council March 31, comparing the city’s total housing occupancies and demolitions between Sept. 1, 2025 and Feb. 28, 2026, against the first-year target of 109 units under the province’s Housing Supply Act. That puts the city at roughly one-twentieth of its annual goal halfway through the reporting period.
The target is part of a five-year order requiring Pitt Meadows to deliver 727 net new housing units by August 2030, with escalating annual benchmarks.
Patrick Ward, director of planning and development, said the figures reflect a combination of local constraints and broader economic forces shaping development activity.
He added that in advance of the order being issued on Aug. 18, 2025, the city had raised concerns with the province about the methodology behind the targets, pointing to constraints including high groundwater, agricultural land reserve limits, federal aviation height restrictions and market conditions.
“The city’s request to the province for reconsideration to find a more appropriate, realistic target was not accepted at that time,” Ward said.
Staff concerns were echoed by council members, who pushed back on suggestions municipalities are failing to act.
Coun. Alison Evans recalled a comment from B.C.’s parliamentary secretary, George Anderson, that “doing nothing shouldn’t be an option.
She pointed to range of measures undertaken over the past year to facilitate housing, including a new housing action plan, streamlined development approvals, updates to zoning and permit guidelines, and continued work on major initiatives like the North Lougheed Area Plan and the Heron’s Nest affordable housing project, which is expected to deliver 115 non-market units by 2027.
“I don’t call that doing nothing,” Evans said. We told (the province), we pleaded our case, that we don’t control the market, we can’t control all the things that are going on right now.
“We have turned down zero permits, so I don’t think it’s the City of Pitt Meadows standing in the way of housing completions at this time.”
Coun. Bob Meachen said similar trends are playing out across the region, where projects are being approved but not built.
“The market conditions just aren’t good. The economic climate is making it prohibitive,” he said. “The market’s not there for most of our builders.”
Market slowdown driving housing delays
City staff say Pitt Meadows’ sluggish progress mirrors a broader slowdown in housing development across B.C. and Canada.
According to the report, the city has already seen a long-term decline in housing production, dropping from 752 units built between 2001 and 2006 to just 210 units between 2016 and 2021.
More recent conditions have further dampened activity. Staff cite global economic uncertainty, reduced immigration levels and provincial funding cuts to affordable housing programs as key factors slowing completions.
Industry-wide data supports that trend.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported housing starts in Canada declined through late 2025 and early 2026, particularly in multi-unit construction, as high interest rates and financing challenges sidelined projects.
In B.C., housing starts fell significantly year-over-year in several recent monthly reports, with Metro Vancouver seeing some of the steepest declines in purpose-built rental starts.
The Urban Development Institute says rising construction costs, tighter financing and collapsing presales have significantly weakened development conditions, with many projects struggling to proceed.
Nationally, Statistics Canada data has shown residential investment trending downward, reflecting reduced developer activity and slower project starts.
Ward emphasized that municipalities do not directly build housing and have limited ability to influence market-driven construction timelines.
“As the city does not directly build housing, the city’s ability to steer the market and increase housing construction is very limited,” the report says.
Pitt Meadows must submit a second progress report this fall, covering the full first year of the program. If the city falls short of the 109-unit annual target, it will be required to outline additional measures to accelerate housing delivery.
Under the Housing Supply Act, the province also has the authority to intervene – including appointing an advisor or issuing directives – if it determines a municipality is not making sufficient progress.
Councillors maintained the issue is less about municipal process and more about economic reality.
“The soul is willing,” Meachen said. “But the flesh is weak.”
