Six months into its five-year Provincial Housing Target Order, Chilliwack is proving that the provincial mandate may not have been as unrealistic as some initially feared. When the 4,594-unit, five-year target was first introduced, there was strong pushback from City Council, with claims that the mandate was unrealistic and unfair. A key concern at the time was that First Nations housing developments would not count toward the city's total, despite these areas playing a major role in the regional housing supply. Now, the recently released Year 1 Interim Progress Report shows that the city is already 73% of the way toward meeting its first-year target, with 483 net new housing units completed as of December 31, 2024.
For those who remember the initial reaction from City Council, this might seem surprising. When the provincial targets were first announced, there was widespread concern that they would be impossible to achieve without major policy shifts or interventions. However, this latest report suggests that Chilliwack’s existing growth trajectory had already aligned with these targets, long before the province stepped in.
Chilliwack’s Year 1 target is 659 new housing units, and with 483 units completed in the first six months, the city is tracking well. These numbers include:
Looking at the longer-term outlook, the report highlights that the city is well-positioned to meet its five-year goal of 4,594 units. Currently, 4,177 units are either completed, approved for construction, or under review, meaning Chilliwack has already made significant progress toward its final target. This total includes:
If all projects currently under review proceed as expected, the city could surpass its Year 4 cumulative target (3,329 units) well ahead of schedule, with a significant buffer heading into the final year of the mandate.
To help meet its targets, Chilliwack has taken proactive steps to fast-track affordable housing developments. The city has prioritized approvals for affordable housing projects and even provided financial incentives to make them viable. Notably:
These efforts demonstrate that, beyond simply keeping pace with the province’s targets, Chilliwack is actively working to remove barriers to affordability and facilitate the creation of much-needed rental and supportive housing options.
One key element of Chilliwack’s reporting is its inclusion of housing units built on First Nations land. While these developments are not directly subject to municipal oversight, the city has chosen to count them in its progress reports, using Development Cost Charge (DCC) data as an estimate.
This approach raises some questions. Did the province approve this reporting method, or is Chilliwack pushing the boundaries of the mandate? The report doesn’t indicate any pushback from the province, suggesting that—for now—these numbers are being accepted. However, as the targets increase in the coming years, it remains to be seen whether the province will continue allowing First Nations housing to be included in municipal progress tracking.
Perhaps the most revealing takeaway from the report is the shift in tone from early concerns to a more measured outlook. While initial discussions about the housing targets painted them as an overreach, this report suggests that Chilliwack’s existing planning framework was already capable of accommodating this level of growth.
This aligns with previous analyses, including Build Chilliwack’s early coverage of the provincial housing mandate (read here), which argued that the targets weren’t wildly out of step with what Chilliwack was already planning for. The real difference is the accountability mechanism—the province now has the power to intervene if targets aren’t met, whereas before, the city had more flexibility to adjust based on market conditions.
Looking forward, the biggest challenge may not be policy or city planning, but rather market conditions. The city’s ability to meet its five-year goal is ultimately dependent on:
The city’s report subtly expresses frustration with the administrative burden of tracking housing targets, noting the extra staff time, new data collection methods, and hiring of consultants to meet provincial reporting requirements. But at the same time, it acknowledges that Chilliwack’s housing pipeline is robust, with 3,190 units under review that could help the city surpass its Year 4 target within just two years.
Chilliwack’s initial skepticism about the housing targets may have been an overreaction. Six months in, the city is largely on pace with its own long-term growth plans. While market conditions will ultimately dictate the final outcome, the data so far suggests that the province’s targets were not unreasonable, and that Chilliwack was already planning for this level of growth long before the provincial order was issued.
As future reports come in, it will be important to watch whether the province continues allowing First Nations housing to count toward municipal targets and how the city navigates economic challenges that could impact development. But for now, Chilliwack is showing that its housing mandate is more of an administrative challenge than a development crisis.
