City Council Platform

Housing For All

A home you can afford and stay in long-term

Too many people in Victoria are struggling to find housing they can afford or worrying about whether they can afford to stay in the home they already have. Renters face rising costs, unfair evictions and homes that are increasingly difficult to keep safe and comfortable during extreme heat.

Everyone deserves a safe, affordable place to call home. Housing should be about providing security, not maximizing profits for corporate landlords and real estate investors.

We will:

Create stronger protections against renovictions

Use the City’s licensing, permitting and bylaw powers to better protect renters affected by major renovations, including stronger requirements for relocation help and clear plans for tenants to return to their homes, at the same rent they were paying before.

Create a City tenant protection office

Establish a renter advocacy office to support tenants, enforce housing standards, and monitor renter displacement. The office will publicly report on housing conditions and trends across Victoria.

Double City investment in affordable housing solutions

Increase City investment in public, non-profit and co-operative housing through the Victoria Housing Reserve Fund and other available funding.

Use City-owned land more effectively, including combining neighbouring properties, leasing land at low cost and exchanging or buying land where it makes sense, to build more affordable housing options.

Protect renters from extreme heat

Expand programs that help bring cooling and energy-efficient upgrades to existing rental buildings without passing the cost on to tenants.

Push the Province to set enforceable maximum indoor temperatures for existing rental housing and use the City’s own powers to improve protection from extreme heat wherever possible.

Care For All

Care should be available before a crisis becomes an emergency

When someone is experiencing a mental health crisis, an overdose or homelessness, too often the only places to turn are an emergency room, the police or no meaningful help at all. That leaves people without the care they need and asks emergency services to respond to problems they were never designed to solve.

When people need support, they deserve care, dignity and real options.

We will:

Expand mental health care, harm reduction and outreach services

Hire more outreach workers who can meet people where they are, build trust and help them get the housing, health care and support they need. Prioritize workers with lived experience and strong relationships in the communities they serve.

Create an advisory committee of people who have experienced homelessness so the people most affected have a direct say in how these services are designed.

Expand community-led mental health crisis response

Expand Crisis Response, Community-Led (CRCL), a mobile team that sends trained crisis responders to support people experiencing a mental health crisis, to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Increase funding so the service can respond to more people when they need help.

Work with E-Comm 9-1-1, the service that answers 9-1-1 calls and connects callers with emergency responders, so appropriate calls can be directed to mental health crisis teams instead of police.

Involve people with lived experience, grassroots organizations and service providers in shaping and improving crisis response services.

Provide the basic amenities people need to stay safe and healthy

Expand access to clean, accessible 24-hour public washrooms, hygiene facilities, drinking water and secure storage for people experiencing homelessness.

Create more cooling and warming spaces, covered outdoor areas and other basic public amenities that help people stay safe during extreme weather.

Create safe daytime spaces for unhoused residents

Establish low-barrier daytime drop-in spaces where people can rest, access services and connect with support.

Make sure these spaces welcome people with pets, carts and personal belongings, and provide harm reduction supplies and services on site.

Transit For All

Free transit, more ways to get around

Transportation is one of the biggest costs many households face, and people should have real alternatives to owning a car. Investing in transit, walking and cycling can lower costs, reduce emissions and make our city more connected.

Transit should be a public service everyone can rely on. Whether you're commuting to work or school, visiting family or running errands, getting around Victoria should be affordable, convenient and accessible.

We will:

Make transit free for more people

Keep transit free for youth and make it free for seniors in Victoria, expand fare-free youth transit across the CRD and push the Province to eliminate fares for all youth, seniors and people receiving income or disability assistance, and take bold, concrete steps towards universal fare-free transit.

Push for more frequent and reliable transit

Advocate for more frequent service, more capacity, better evening and late-night service and stronger connections between neighbourhoods and communities.

Give buses priority on congested streets

Expand measures such as dedicated bus lanes, queue-jump lanes and signal priority where they can make busy routes faster and more reliable.

Work with BC Transit to improve bus stops with shelters, seating, accessible boarding and clearer passenger information.

Connect communities across the region

Work with other municipalities and other levels of government to advance rapid transit to the Westshore, including exploring rail-based options and other proven transit solutions.

Support new transportation connections across the region, including a passenger ferry alternative to the Colwood Crawl, and improve service linking Victoria with communities such as Duncan and the Victoria International Airport.

Improve HandyDART service

Advocate for a publicly operated HandyDART system, expanded service capacity, improved reliability and fair wages for drivers.

Create a more people-friendly downtown

Expand downtown car-free areas in consultation with downtown residents and businesses.

Build a safer, more connected bike network

Expand Victoria's protected bike lane network and increase secure bicycle parking and storage around town.

Safe Climate For All

Prepare Victoria for a hotter and less predictable climate

Climate action is about both reducing emissions and making sure people can live safely and comfortably as extreme heat, wildfire smoke and severe weather become more common.

We will:

Protect and expand Victoria’s urban forest

Update the Urban Forest Master Plan and strengthen policies that protect and grow Victoria’s tree canopy while adapting bylaws to changes in provincial housing rules.

Focus new planting in neighbourhoods with fewer trees and greater exposure to extreme heat.

Bring people together to protect Victoria’s trees

Create an Urban Tree Advisory Committee that brings together residents, community organizations, experts and other partners.

Invite the Songhees and Xʷsepsəm Nations to participate.

Grow more native and climate-resilient trees

Expand the City’s tree nursery and increase the supply of native and climate-resilient species.

Strengthen expectations for native plants and appropriate Garry oak habitat in public projects and new housing developments.

Make homes safer in extreme heat and smoke

Use City rules, incentives and partnerships to expand access to efficient electric heating, cooling and air filtration, including heat pumps.

Support upgrades to existing rental buildings while making sure the cost is not simply passed on to tenants.

Build more green infrastructure

Use City projects, development rules and incentives to add more green roofs and rooftop gardens, shade, permeable surfaces and other green infrastructure where practical.

Keep fossil-fuel advertising off City property

Ban fossil fuel advertising on City property and advocate for similar policies at BC Transit and other public agencies.

Community For All

Places to gather, create and belong

Victoria's strength comes from its people and the places where they gather, create and connect. As our city grows, we need to protect affordable cultural spaces, expand access to recreation and invest in public spaces that are welcoming and accessible to everyone, year-round.

We will:

Support artist-run spaces and cultural venues

Create more affordable, nonprofit spaces for artists to create and share their work.

Use community land trusts and partnerships to help secure dedicated arts and culture spaces, building on successful cooperative models and ensuring Victoria remains a welcoming home for artists and the wider community.

Develop an accessible arts and culture strategy

Work with the Accessibility Advisory Committee, artists and community organizations to ensure arts, culture and community events are accessible and inclusive for everyone.

Invest in free all-weather community gathering spaces

Create more covered outdoor spaces, climate-resilient public facilities and welcoming indoor community spaces that can be enjoyed year-round at no cost.

Create more public swimming spaces

Expand public swimming areas throughout the city and improve existing sites with amenities like washrooms, showers, change facilities and drinking water stations. Access to recreation and relief from extreme heat should not depend on what you can afford. Everyone deserves free, welcoming places to cool off, exercise and connect with their community.

Democracy for All

More participation, transparency and shared decision-making

Democracy should mean more than casting a ballot every four years. Too often, decisions are made behind closed doors, and those with the most money have the most influence. Renters, workers, families, young people, seniors and equity-seeking communities shouldn’t be left on the sidelines. We believe everyone should have a meaningful role in shaping their community. That means sharing power, making decisions openly, and ensuring City Hall works for everyone.

We will:

Give residents a greater say in City decisions

Set aside part of the City’s budget for participatory budgeting, giving residents a direct say in how money is spent in their neighbourhoods.

Create an independent Citizens’ Assembly to study options for electoral reform, including ward and mixed electoral systems, and bring recommendations forward for public discussion.

Strengthen community representation and shared decision-making

Ensure Black, Indigenous, racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+ and disability communities have a direct voice in City decision-making.

Expand participatory grantmaking and make co-design and shared decision-making standard when developing policies that affect these communities.

Make sure major planning and development decisions include renters, youth, seniors, Indigenous residents, people with disabilities and low-income residents.

Provide honoraria for low-income residents who take part in consultations, and publicly report what residents said and how their input was used.

Advance reconciliation and Indigenous partnership

Align City policies, bylaws and purchasing with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Support the CRD reconciliation action plan and renew the Victoria Reconciliation Dialogue Series to build relationships, understanding and accountability.

Work with affected First Nations on major rezonings, master plans and infrastructure projects, including opportunities for shared development and decision-making.

Make City Hall more transparent and accountable

Strengthen ethics rules, improve early and meaningful public consultation, and require formal Council responses to recommendations from advisory committees.

Give advisory committees the resources they need and make recruitment more open and accessible, with outreach to communities that are underrepresented.

Create one public online portal for City records and disclosures, report on freedom of information response times, and make it easier—and eventually free—to access City services and pay fees online.

Implement an AI Code of Conduct for Mayor and Council that sets ethical limits on what tasks can be outsourced to generative AI and which must be performed by elected officials.

Make civic participation more inclusive

Translate key forms into Victoria's most widely spoken languages, provide interpretation at public meetings and partner with community organizations to deliver culturally appropriate translation and outreach.

Use technology and AI-powered tools to expand language access while maintaining human oversight and quality assurance.

Foster a democratic and collaborative public service

Work with City unions and the labour movement to build a more collaborative workplace where employees have a meaningful voice in their work and a stake in the City’s success.

Support human rights and international solidarity

Adopt the Apartheid Free Communities pledge and align City investments, purchasing decisions and advocacy with the principles of the pledge and Victoria's stated commitment to human rights, in solidarity with Palestinians and others facing apartheid, occupation or genocide.

Fair Revenue For All

Making sure growth benefits everyone

Our city needs reliable revenue to fund the services, housing, infrastructure and community spaces people depend on. We believe those who benefit most from growth and rising property values should contribute their fair share.

We will:

Make property taxes more progressive

B.C. law does not currently let cities charge higher property tax rates based on the value of a home. We will use grants and rebates to reduce taxes on lower- and middle-value properties while raising more revenue from the highest-value properties.

Introduce an additional "mansion tax"

Explore an additional municipal charge on very high-value properties to fund public housing projects and reconciliation initiatives, subject to provincial authority.

Make developers contribute to public amenities and reconciliation

When new development increases the value of land, make sure some of that value comes back to the community to help pay for things like infrastructure, parks and public amenities.

When approving rezonings or developments, consider contributions to the City of Victoria Reconciliation Fund, including funding or land transfers that directly benefit First Nations, where legally permitted.