Chilliwack City Hall addition by Gustavson Wylie Architects (GWA)
The City of Chilliwack’s August 2024 Building Permit Report shows impressive growth, driven largely by industrial developments. But on the housing front, the city is falling behind the targets set by the province, raising questions about how market forces are impacting progress.
In August, 21 residential permits were issued, leading to just 12 new housing units—well below the 75 units per month needed to meet provincial housing goals. With housing demand rising, this shortfall highlights the challenges Chilliwack faces in delivering enough homes.
A key factor in this struggle is the rejection of a 74-unit apartment project at Yale Road and Carleton Street. While the development density aligned with the city’s 2040 Official Community Plan (OCP), it was rejected by City Council due to concerns over neighbourhood character, safety, and infrastructure. This decision underscores the complexity of adding density, especially when communities push back against large-scale projects.
Still, there’s potential in smaller-scale developments like the single duplex permit issued in August. Duplexes represent part of the “missing middle”—housing that provides more density without the scale of larger apartment buildings. The success of such projects will be important as the city looks for more creative ways to meet its housing needs.
It’s important to remember that, at the end of the day, the free market plays a huge role in whether housing targets are met. Developers, construction companies, and even individuals looking to add units to their properties are ultimately driven by market conditions. If the economics don’t make sense—whether because of high construction costs, labor shortages, or uncertainty in rental income—they simply won’t build.
For individuals, the high cost of living, skyrocketing rent, and overall affordability challenges can be major deterrents to starting new projects. Adding units to an existing property, for example, could mean months of displacement during construction—a prospect that many homeowners are understandably reluctant to face. Even if there's an interest in adding secondary suites or duplexes, the financial strain might outweigh the potential rental income, especially if rental rates aren’t high enough to cover the costs.
While housing growth lags, the industrial sector is booming, with Red Bull’s massive facility leading the charge. The $79.1 million, 185,000 sq. ft. plant in Chilliwack’s Food and Beverage Processing Park will be Red Bull’s second global ingredient facility, creating 60 skilled jobs and solidifying Chilliwack’s industrial footprint.
This single project accounts for a huge portion of the city’s construction activity, pushing Chilliwack’s year-to-date construction value to $240.2 million—on track to surpass a quarter billion dollars in investment by the end of the year. In fact, the value of industrial permits in 2024 almost eclipse the combined total for the previous six years (2018-2023).
On the commercial side, there were 8 permits issued in August, valued at $495,000, while agricultural development saw just one permit worth $140,000.
Chilliwack has seen a total of 457 residential units approved so far in 2024, with the majority of new housing centred in Chilliwack Proper (188 units), Sardis (143 units), and Vedder (59 units). But with the provincial housing mandate looming large, the city will need more than just policy alignment—it will need the right market conditions to make building housing profitable for developers and affordable for residents.
