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These were Burnaby's top stories from the city beat in 2024: housing, money and more

Let's review the year that was in the City of Burnaby.
Lauren Vanderdeen
Lauren Vanderdeen
metrotownmixedhousing1
Towers and townhouses are seen in Metrotown on Oct. 12, 2024.Jennifer Gauthier

The local housing crisis is always a hot topic in Burnaby, and that was certainly true of 2024. 

The past year featured a one-sided tug-of-war in Burnaby, as various levels of government clamoured to address unaffordable housing prices.

While the City of Burnaby repeatedly pushed back against the province's new housing legislation, the city's efforts were in vain from the first.

Local officials and politicians have heaped criticism on the new legislation, which they say could threaten local renters and the city's finances.

What was up on Burnaby's city beat in 2024? Read on for the low-down.

Housing showdown: B.C. vs. Burnaby

Provincial housing legislation, introduced late last year, has been a source of great consternation for some local residents and politicians.

Residents in Brentwood petitioned the city for an exemption to the transit-oriented development rules, which require cities to allow much taller heights certain distances from rapid transit.

City council agreed with the residents (the mayor said Burnaby has “done enough” for density in Brentwood) and asked the province for an exemption – which the province roundly rejected.

Burnaby retaliated by refusing to approve the necessary bylaws for almost six months. Resistance was futile, however, as municipalities are children of the province and cannot overrule provincial mandates. The city approved its transit-oriented area bylaws Dec. 16.

Other changes resulting from the provincial legislation caused little hubbub: councillors unanimously approved multiplex housing throughout the city.

That means single-family zoning no longer reigns supreme in Burnaby. What were previously single-family lots can now be home to fourplexes, fiveplexes – even sixplexes, depending on their distance from rapid transit.

But that’s not the last you’ll hear of the provincial housing legislation.

Burnaby sealed the deal and created the Burnaby Housing Authority this year, an arm’s length municipal corporation that can act like a private developer while building much-needed affordable housing, particularly rentals.

But three city councillors opposed the new corporation, suggesting the provincial housing laws have changed the local housing landscape. Coun. Sav Dhaliwal said the laws “negated” the need for the housing authority altogether.

The Burnaby Housing Authority’s board, announced in June, is now searching for its CEO.

Meanwhile, Coun. Alison Gu suggested the provincial changes, along with newly adopted and in-the-works community plans, could put Burnaby renters at risk and asked staff to research new policies to protect renters across the city, especially in secondary market rentals.

Paying for change

The new provincial legislation is intended to support increasing growth, and cities are tasked with calculating how to pay for it.

Burnaby has introduced new funding tools to pay for things like pipes, roads and community centres, though developers have criticized the new charges.

The provincial legislation requires cities to codify certain rental policies into stricter bylaws which must be financially viable and cannot deter development.

It’s meant Burnaby has had to make sweeping changes to its marquee “rental use zoning policy,” which previously required developers to include 20 per cent non-market rental homes (rented at 20 per cent below the market median) in new developments – numbers that were once considered “sacrosanct.”

The policy has also been eliminated in a large swath of the low-income neighbourhood in Edmonds, until it can be considered financially viable, with one large geographic exception: the Southgate City development.

New community centres vs. budgets

Speaking of financial viability, Burnaby has embarked on an ambitious strategy to redevelop its major rec centres, but with skyrocketing construction costs and development futures uncertain, the city has found out it can’t rely on its vast reserves forever.

Burnaby took in $175 million less than expected in developer money in 2023, which means the city “won’t have sufficient funding for the future,” the city’s chief financial officer told the Burnaby NOW in May.

That prediction came to fruition in August, as the city had no money left in the appropriate coffers for the $205-million Confederation Park Community Centre redevelopment.

Council voted to defer the project and asked staff to return with options for how the project can proceed, whether through a redesign or finding other funding sources.

Mayor Mike Hurley, again, blamed the province for the financial difficulties.

“As a city we are proud of the fact that for many years we have funded new facilities through our savings – not by borrowing or increasing taxes,” he said at the August council meeting.

“Changes by the province will make that difficult to avoid in the future.”

Projects for which funding is now up in the air include the city hall redevelopment ($400 million was previously budgeted in the 2024 five-year capital plan) and the Bonsor Recreation Complex redevelopment ($55 million budgeted).

But multiple major civic projects are still in the works in Burnaby, including:

The Rosemary Brown Recreation Centre ($54 million) finally opened in April after years of delays, and the new Fire Station No. 4 is also up and running (the contract for project, along with Station 8, was approved at $50.5 million).

As we move into 2025, Burnaby NOW staff can point to one interesting story on the horizon: after years of public consultation, the city’s new Official Community Plan is set to be approved next year.

It will plan for the future of growth in Burnaby to 2050 and beyond – where will people live? Go to school? Ride their bikes or drive their cars?

Some homeowners, worried the land-use changes will turn their homes into parks, have expressed concerns about the proposal.

Staff are studying the results of public consultation now and expect to confirm the plan next year.

Build, build, build

Highrises and cranes are a staple of the landscape in Burnaby, and Burnaby NOW readers love reading about real estate and development.

Here’s were some of the most read development stories:

Freedom of Information stories

The NOW published two stories this year based on information revealed in Freedom of Information requests.

The first was a long-form investigation into how Burnaby almost paved over 21 acres of wetlands, despite internal red flags. The public uproar over the proposed “Green Recycling and Organics” facility made our “most controversial” stories of the year list in 2023, and this story showed it wasn’t only the public who was upset – some staff were concerned too.

We also published the stats on how much developers paid to the first displaced tenants who returned to their new homes at old rents in June, as part of Burnaby’s oft-praised tenant assistance policy.

Community stories

Here were some of the most-clicked community stories this year.