Skip to content

$1B in building permits puts Kelowna on par with bigger cities

The exact figure for 2021 is $1,187,772,000
28160988_web1_building-projects
The city issued more than $1 billion worth of building permits last year (File photo)

The City of Kelowna has topped $1 billion in gross building permit value for the first time.

The exact figure for 2021 is $1,187,772,000.

“For comparison sake, the City of Surrey is five times the size of Kelowna and they did about $1.9 billion last year,” said Ryan Smith, director of planning.

Smith referenced last week’s Statistics Canada report about growth in Kelowna and the Central Okanagan.

“That just reaffirms those statistics are right on and we’re actually seeing the impacts of those on the ground,” he added.

A staff report showed residential building permits dropped significantly, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, occupancy permits remained high due to construction projects in 2018 and 2019 being completed.

“Because the city didn’t shut down our inspection services team with COVID,” said Smith. “We were able to keep inspections going and keep occupancy permits being issued.”

The report also showed strong demand for all types of housing with a focus on multi-family housing types in the city core, and many larger-scale applications at various stages of the approvals process leading to the potential for lots of additional housing supply for 2022. Staff also anticipate continued interest from developers for the construction of rental housing in urban areas specifically.

Smith added the trend over the next 20 years, as the Official Community Plan (OCP) is implemented, is a heavier split to more development in the urban core.

“That’s what a lot of our in-fill programs are geared towards is that core area of Kelowna focus especially on the urban centres,” said Smith.

Looking ahead to 2022, Smith said there is continued strong interest in rental construction with a number of large-scale projects coming to council over the next six to eight months.

“Certainly that’s being fuelled by low-interest rates, low vacancy rates, city incentives, and support,” he said. “We’ve been doing our best for those projects to find ways that are creative to have them meet zoning and to get the best use of our land possible in the core of the city.”

Read More: The City of Kelowna has a vision for the future

Read More: Less than 1 in 10 can buy a home: Affordable housing key issue for Kelowna


@GaryBarnes109
gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our daily and subscribe to our daily newsletter.



Gary Barnes

About the Author: Gary Barnes

Recently joined Kelowna Capital News and WestK News as a multimedia journalist in January 2022. With almost 30 years of experience in news reporting and radio broadcasting...
Read more