The City of Kelowna has completed a Housing Needs Assessment to identify our community’s current and future housing needs.

The Housing Needs Assessment will be used as a foundation for planning and decision-making related to housing for at least the next five years.

The process was completed in fall of 2023 and the final report was presented to Council - read the full Housing Needs Assessment document here.

Community Engagement

In addition to technical analysis, a key part of the assessment process involved hearing from community members with specific perspectives on housing needs in Kelowna. A number of engagement activities took place in February and March of 2023 to connect with people disproportionately experiencing housing need, as well as service providers, Indigenous groups, and private sector organizations.

	Virtual & In-Person Focus Groups A series of focused workshops to collect Kelowna-specific insights into affordable housing challenges, gaps, priorities, and solutions.
	1:1 Interviews Longer one-on-one interviews with key informants who have valuable insights into housing issues in the community.
	Indigenous Community Engagement Indigenous organizations and service providers are being invited to share input about housing needs specific to local Indigenous communities.
	Lived & Living Experience Engagement The project team is connecting with people who are disproportionately experiencing housing need to learn from their experiences.

Want to stay in touch? Updates on the Housing Needs Assessment process will be provided on through this project page – follow the page for up-to-date information.

Looking for more information? Ask us a question below. We'd love to hear from you!

Project Background

A Housing Needs Assessment is intended to help local governments to understand what kinds of housing are most needed in their communities, and help inform local plans, policies, and development decisions to address those needs.

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. You can find detailed information about this legislation and the report requirements on the provincial government’s website.

Next steps

Now that the Housing Needs Assessment is complete, City staff will be creating a Housing Strategy. This process is expected to start in late 2023 and will include many opportunities for engagement and feedback from members of the public.