The Sunshine Coast Regional District will likely look for an extension to come into compliance with provincial housing regulations.
The province enacted Bill 44 last November to help fulfill its Homes for People Plan to increase affordable housing supply. It requires local governments to change their bylaws by the end of June to allow at least one secondary suite or auxiliary dwelling unit in all single-unit dwelling residential zones.
Local governments may apply for extensions to bring their bylaws into compliance. At the April 18 Sunshine Coast Regional District Electoral Services Committee meeting, elected officials supported an ask for two additional years to explore making those amendments. The province's deadline for the extension applications is June 1, so the SCRD board would need to endorse the ask before then.
When should APC input be received?
In response to a call from Area E director Donna McMahon to refer the staff report that was included on the meeting agenda to area Advisory Planning Commissions (APC) for comment before any board vote on the matter, staff noted that the timing sequence did not allow for that. In discussion, the committee members noted what was going to the board was only the compliant time extension request. Should the board support that, there would then be time for APC input on the adjustments to local rules and infrastructure that would be required to bring the SCRD into Bill 44 compliance.
With the additional time, the SCRD intends to explore the new housing requirements as part of its Official Community Plan revision. Those revisions are slated to come forward for consideration in spring 2026, which should allow for changes to be in place to meet the SCRD’s adjusted Bill 44 compliance date of June 30 of that year, staff confirmed. Should there be a delay in the OCP update, staff noted that an additional time extension for provincial housing regulation compliance could be requested up to June 2030. They also noted that the SCRD can move forward with changes to bring it under Bill 44 earlier than June 30, 2026, should the required bylaw adjustments proceed earlier than anticipated.
Potential help with STR enforcement
One set of provisions in the new provincial legislation that committee members expressed interest in were those relating to short-term rentals. Under Bill 44, regional districts and municipalities with populations under 5,000 aren’t required to comply with new rules on those but can opt-in if they so choose.
Opting in would mean the local jurisdiction would be included in provincial enforcement of these rules but taking that action needs to be done on an annual basis by March 31 of the current year.
The SCRD has not yet opted in. If it should choose to do so in a future year, STR operations in the regional district would require registration and be limited to properties also occupied by the owner. Current SCRD rules allow an STR on residential property that is also home to a full-time resident, either an owner or a tenant. At the meeting, director of planning Ian Hall stated opting in might create some difficulties for existing STR operators who are not property owners and that staff are “watching” how provincial STR regulations roll out in other areas before making recommendations on adopting the provincial rules. It was noted that several other B.C. regional districts and smaller municipalities are taking similar approaches.
While stating that she liked the idea of having provincial assistance with STR rule enforcement, McMahon agreed with staff’s recommendations. In her view, “we don’t want to be the first penguin to jump into walrus-infested waters" when it comes to STR regulation changes.
