City of Maple Ridge Housing Needs Report

The City of Maple Ridge completed a housing needs assessment to better understand current and future housing needs. The primary purpose of this process is to identify and describe the key needs and gaps in Maple Ridge’s housing system to inform future policymaking. A Housing Needs Report is intended to strengthen the ability of local governments to understand what kinds of housing are most needed in their communities, and help inform local plans, policies, and development decisions. The assessment process and report itself will not result in specific new policy but will be used to support and inform future changes (to Official Community Plans, Housing Action Plans, Zoning Bylaws, and others). As of 2019, every local government in BC is legislatively required to undertake a housing needs assessment by April 2022, and every five years thereafter.

Building from the data provided by Metro Vancouver, our team analyzed key trends to better understand the City's demographic and housing context. This initial research provided a more comprehensive understanding of the City's housing needs and gaps, which we helped to articulate using household profiles. These profiles demonstrate "typical" experiences for different Maple Ridge households, illustrating the challenges that many different groups experience in finding suitable and affordable housing. Our team also worked with City staff to define an interactive project process with several opportunities for community engagement, including an online survey, interactive workshops, key informant interviews, and a virtual open house. Key takeaways are summarized in an online summary video, available here. https://youtu.be/6Xhh4ydhrG8

CLIENT: City of Maple Ridge