Proposal to update Broadway Plan zoning
Currently, rezoning is required even for compliant projects
Hatched: spot rezoning still required, to limit the number of towers
Blue: R3, six storeys
Salmon, yellow, purple: R5, high-rise
City-initiated zoning changes (rezoning) in areas of Broadway and Cambie Corridor Plans. Display boards.
City council approved the Broadway Plan policy in 2022, but didn't update the zoning. It's still illegal to build almost anything. Every project needs to get special permission through the slow and painful spot-rezoning process, which is basically asking the city to changes its laws for one specific site.
The city is now proposing to update its zoning for parts of the Broadway Plan area. Projects which comply with the zoning won’t have to apply for a spot rezoning, which can easily take more than a year. Instead, they can go directly to applying for a development permit. (People can still submit written comments about the development permit application.)
Note that all of the hatched areas (shown with diagonal lines) still require a spot rezoning, so that the city can limit the number of towers on a block face.
The proposal also includes updating the zoning for a small part of the Cambie Corridor, near Oakridge.
This seems like a good proposal to me, although the fact that the hatched areas still require a spot rezoning is disappointing. As the MacPhail Report says:
We recommend a stronger role for housing needs estimates and citywide official plans, which guide how entire communities are expected to grow. We also recommend reduced reliance on site-by-site public hearings and council approvals that delay homebuilding and amplify the voices of groups opposing new housing, at the expense of citywide objectives and affordability.
The proposed policy is expected to come to city council for a public hearing, debate, and decision in Q2 2025.
More
City of Vancouver proposes pre-zoning select areas of Broadway Plan and Cambie Plan. Kenneth Chan, Daily Hive.
Portions Of Broadway And Cambie Corridors To Be Pre-Zoned For More Density. Howard Chai, Storeys.
From Housing Crisis into an Education Crisis
The proposed updates to Broadway Plan zoning have direct implications for Vancouver’s schools—particularly the Vancouver School Board (VSB) and its long-range planning efforts. Below are the key takeaways:
1. Increased Housing, No School Planning
The City of Vancouver is accelerating zoning changes to allow more housing developments without requiring time-consuming spot rezonings. While this streamlining will increase the pace of residential construction, the plan does not include any parallel strategy to provide new schools or upgrade existing infrastructure to support the expected population growth.
Implication for Schools:
✔ More families moving into the Broadway corridor without a single new school planned
✔ Existing elementary and secondary schools already over capacity will face further strain
✔ Increased reliance on portables, boundary changes, and long school commutes
✔ Further disconnect between the City and VSB's long-range facilities planning
2. VSB's Flawed Enrollment Forecasting Will Create a Crisis
The VSB’s Long Range Facilities Plan (LRFP) (last updated May 2022) predicts a 5,000-student decline by 2031, which contradicts both the City's housing expansion and Ministry of Education projections showing continued enrollment growth.
Implication for Schools:
✔ The VSB may fail to secure land for new schools before it's too expensive or unavailable
✔ Future schools will need to be built in reactionary mode, costing taxpayers millions more
✔ Parents will be forced into "kindergarten lotteries" as demand exceeds supply
✔ Secondary schools like Lord Byng (122% capacity) and Kitsilano (99.5% capacity) will see severe overcrowding
3. Broadway Plan’s High-Density Areas Overlap With Schools That Have No Seismic Plans
The hatch-marked areas in the rezoning map will see the highest density increases, yet many nearby schools remain seismically unsafe with no plan for upgrades.
Implication for Schools:
✔ Families will be moving into earthquake-prone school buildings without safety assurances
✔ The City, Province, and VSB continue to operate in silos, missing opportunities for integrated planning
✔ Without intervention, we will see a repeat of Olympic Village—where thousands of residents moved in without a new school for over a decade
4. What Needs to Happen NOW
VSB Trustees must immediately engage with City Council before these zoning changes are finalized. Vancouver cannot repeat past mistakes where thousands of new homes are built without ensuring educational infrastructure keeps pace.
✔ Action 1: Mandate Education Impact Assessments (EIA) for all Broadway Plan projects before development permits are issued.
✔ Action 2: Secure dedicated School Site Acquisition Charges (SSACs) for Broadway developments.
✔ Action 3: Implement real-time enrollment forecasting that integrates housing growth, development permits, and immigration data.
✔ Action 4: Ensure the City of Vancouver and the VSB collaborate on land banking strategies before sites become unavailable.
✔ Action 5: Make seismic upgrades a precondition for schools in high-growth areas.
Conclusion: A Defining Moment for Vancouver’s Future
The zoning changes in the Broadway Plan will determine how thousands of families live, work, and educate their children. Yet, education planning is missing entirely from the conversation. If VSB, the City, and the Province do not act NOW, taxpayers will face massive emergency costs later, and students will continue to suffer from overcrowded and unsafe schools.
This is not just a housing crisis—it’s an education crisis in the making.