Official Community Plan Update 2025

What is an OCP?

An Official Community Plan (OCP) is a comprehensive plan that details the overall values of a community by creating a long-term vision of growth and development.

Why is the City of White Rock updating the OCP?

The City is updating its Official Community Plan (OCP) in response to new provincial requirements introduced in 2023. However, it is key to ensure that the OCP continues to reflect the community’s needs and priorities. To achieve this, through a series of public engagement initiatives, the City will engage the community to evaluate how existing OCP housing and associated policies can be revised to fulfill new legislative requirements in a manner that will align with the community’s current goals and priorities.

Formal consideration of these updates to the OCP is subject to a bylaw amendment process, including a public hearing, and final adoption by Council.

BACKGROUND

As part of the Government of British Columbia’s Homes for People Action Plan, in November 2023, the Province passed legislation intended to increase the supply, selection, and affordability for people to gain housing in British Columbia. This new legislation requires the City of White Rock to do the following:

• Part I - Update the City’s Zoning Bylaw to allow more density to permit additional housing units, or “small-scale multi-unit housing” (SSMUH), in residential zones that are otherwise restricted to single-family or duplexes. The City adopted a new Zoning bylaw on June 27, 2024 to allow for SSMUH density.
  
  
• Part II - Update the City’s Housing Needs Report (2021) to include new provincial requirements including using the Province’s new standardized methodology to calculate long-term housing need, no later than January 1, 2025. Using this methodology, it is estimated that the City of White Rock will need 8,816 new housing units in the next 20 years. Council endorsed the Interim Housing Needs Report (2024) on November 21, 2024.
  
  
• Part III – Following the development of the Interim Housing Needs Report, update the City’s Official Community Plan (OCP) and Zoning Bylaw by December 31, 2025 to ensure there is sufficient housing capacity to accommodate the long-term housing needs identified in the Interim Housing Needs Report (2024).
  
  

Having completed Parts I and II, the City is now undertaking the legislated OCP update (Part III) to comply with the new Provincial requirements.

How to Participate

• Online: Submit questions under the "Ask a Question" tab below.
  
  
• Survey: Fill out the survey below or pick up a paper copy at City Hall and return completed copies to the Planning and Development Services department located at the lower level in City Hall. Alternatively, paper copies can also be emailed to OCPupdate2025@whiterockcity.ca. Survey closes Wednesday, April 30, 2025 at 4:30 p.m.
  
  
• In-person pop-up and public engagement sessions: Drop-in to one of the pop-up* or public engagement sessions around the community to meet staff and learn about the survey.
  
  * “Pop-up events” are short-term public engagements that are held at various locations within the City of White Rock , that usually last just a few hours. The purpose of a “Pop-up event” is to provide the public the opportunity to ask City Staff questions about the OCP Update and the OCP Update Survey. Unlike City-hosted Open Houses, “Pop-up events” are intended to be informal and spontaneous.