Court rules B.C. law to push through Vancouver housing project is unconstitutional

The B.C. Court of Appeal says a law passed by the provincial government to stave off opposition to a supportive housing development in the Vancouver neighbourhood of Kitsilano is unconstitutional. 

The provincial government had adopted the law at the request of the City of Vancouver in 2023 to push through a 12-storey housing development at Arbutus Street, featuring units open to low‑income residents and users of support services.

But the Arbutus development has been opposed by the Kitsilano Coalition for Children & Family Safety Society, which took the city to court over its in-principle approval of a rezoning to allow the project to go ahead.

Monday’s ruling says the provincial government “evidently became concerned” the litigation could delay the rezoning, so it passed the Municipal Enabling and Validating Act to facilitate the project.

The B.C. Supreme Court upheld the law in November last year, but the community group appealed, arguing the law crossed the line in bypassing the court’s “supervisory role” enshrined by Constitution.

The new ruling says the legislation “amounted to interference” with the court’s adjudicative role.

It says the case isn’t about whether the housing crisis “requires action or whether the proposed development should proceed” — the “sole issue” is whether the province infringed upon the role of the court.

The City of Vancouver said in a statement that it was reviewing the decision, although it was not a party to the appeal. 

Neither the coalition nor the Housing Ministry immediately provided a response to the ruling.