Coquitlam temporarily reduces density bonus charges by 15%
Offsetting market headwinds
Coquitlam Approves Temporary Density Bonus Discount. Howard Chai, Storeys, May 2025.
In Coquitlam, when a project gets a spot rezoning approved, there’s typically a fixed “density bonus fee” per additional square foot of floor space above the base zoning. The city updates the rates every three months, based on market conditions.
Unfortunately, the market has locked up, and so there’s no data to update the rates.
From a staff report to council:
The updated Policy requires the City Lands and Real Estate Division to monitor land values and update the rates periodically (every 3 months on February 1st, May 1st, August 1st and November 1st) for specified neighbourhood market areas and high-density land use designations/zones, based on comparable market sales.
With the current market headwinds facing high-density concrete development, there has been limited-to-no market sale transactions in the last 18-to-24 months. As such, the Density Bonus posted rates have been held constant since the rate posting on August 1, 2023 as there is no land sale evidence to support a change in the rates.
City staff recommended that the city respond to the market headwinds by lowering their charges temporarily.
In light of the challenges noted above, uncertainty in the market, and the City's desire to see continued housing delivery, staff are recommending a one-time, temporary adjustment to all Density Bonus amounts payable by 15%.
Any applicant who collects their ready-to-issue Building Permit before July 31, 2025 and submits their Density Bonus payment by this date would have a one-time 15% adjustment applied to the amount identified in their Density Bonus commitment letter.
Council has approved this recommendation. Chai quotes Dennis Marsden:
Councillor Dennis Marsden echoed what many developers have been saying about government fees, which is that if projects cannot move forward, there are no fees for governments to collect.
“At this point in time, we've seen a hiccup, we've seen a stall, and if there's an indication that we can do our part to kickstart that and see development move forward in Coquitlam — when a developer is looking at and saying they can build in Burnaby or Coquitlam or North Van — if we can give them that incentive to move here, I'd like to see that happen. And if that means getting 85% of something, versus 100% of nothing, I'll take the 85%.”
I don’t think I’ve seen any other case in BC of a municipality lowering their charges in response to market headwinds.
The next review will be August 1.