In 2021, Council adopted the Saanich Housing Strategy to provide clear direction on how the municipality plans to contribute to improving housing opportunities and outcomes to address the urgent need to increase housing supply, diversity, and affordability.
The Housing Strategy was developed over a 13-month long process which included both community consultation and comprehensive recommendations from the Housing Strategy Task Force.
The Housing Strategy represents a comprehensive approach to achieving a healthy housing supply for our community and proposes a total of seven focus areas, 22 strategies, and 73 actions within the 10-year framework.
Priorities Plan
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The Priorities Plan 2026-2028 provides a supplementary workplan to the Housing Strategy and outlines the District’s priority actions over the next three years to improve housing outcomes.
The Priorities Plan includes 34 actions, including new actions to be initiated, and ongoing actions. |
Annual Progress Reporting
The Housing Division also reports annually on progress related to Housing Strategy actions and goals, as well as broad trends in the housing market.
- Annual Housing Progress Report, May 2025
- Annual Housing Progress Report, March 2024
- Annual Housing Progress Report, March 2023
Why have a Housing Strategy?
A housing strategy outlines the approach a municipality plans to take in response to the community’s unique housing needs. These strategies typically address the full range of options across the Housing Spectrum from social housing and below-market housing, to market rental and home ownership.
Housing strategies are unique to each municipality and local housing strategies differ depending on factors such as local market conditions. Larger municipalities, like Saanich, have the capacity to develop detailed strategies that identify and prioritize multiple policies, initiatives, partnerships, and programs to improve housing.
The Housing Spectrum
The Housing Spectrum is a visual reference used to categorize and describe the full range of temporary, non-market and market housing types from emergency shelters to homeownership.
Increasingly complex housing issues impact a wide range of household structures, ages, and incomes. In Saanich, housing affordability challenges are evident with 40% of renters and 17% of homeowners paying more than 30% of their income on housing costs. Affordability has been impacted by rising housing prices and an insufficient supply of housing to meet current and future needs for adequate, suitable, and affordable housing. Expanding housing choice and affordability, encourages the development of diverse, liveable neighbourhoods near transit and within walking distance of parks, schools, and other amenities.
