Housing

 Housing in our Community

Ensuring residents have access to safe and affordable housing is foundational to the community's health, safety, and well-being. We want West Kelowna to be a place that people can call home.

To achieve this, the City is actively working to advance policies, programs, and projects that facilitate various housing types and tenures along the Housing Continuum.

The housing continuum visually demonstrates the wide range of tenure options available in communities, from temporary emergency shelters for people experiencing homelessness, to non-market rental housing, and home ownership housing options. The intent is not to imply progression towards home ownership but rather to represent the full range of options that can match people’s needs and preferences. Key initiatives are underway in West Kelowna and across the region to meet various aspects of the continuum.

   The City's Role in Supporting Housing Delivery

The City supports housing through several actions within its regulatory abilities. While housing demand factors are largely beyond local governments' controls, the City of West Kelowna supports our community's housing needs through:

  • Incentive programs to create new non-market, market rental and secondary rental housing.
  • Designating land uses in the Official Community Plan that provides the direction of how we grow.
  • Regulation to protect purpose-built rental housing by requiring one-for-one replacement of purpose-built rental housing, upon redevelopment.
  • Regulation that guides location and type of housing that can be built in the community.
  • Non-profit and private sector collaboration to deliver much-needed housing supply.
  • Provincial and federal government advocacy on a range of housing issues.

The City also continues to work with BC Housing to establish attainable, longer-term transitional and supportive housing in West Kelowna and the Greater Westside. Our goal is to partner with the Province and social agencies to support and increase safe, attainable and accessible housing opportunities that meet our diverse community needs. We are also collaborating with Westbank First Nation and BC Housing to determine viable land and facility opportunities to serve the Greater Westside.

The City's Role in Supporting Tenants

The City supports tenants who live in purpose-built rental housing through policies intended to strengthen protections beyond the minimum standards in the provincial Residential Tenancy and Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Acts. For more information, please review the Rental Protection and Tenant Relocation, and Manufactured Home Park Redevelopment policies below. 

What is the Rental Protection and Tenant Relocation Policy?

The City’s Rental Protection and Tenant Relocation Assistance Policy establishes clear expectations 
for applicants proposing a Zoning Bylaw Amendment or Strata Conversion that would result in the 
redevelopment of existing purpose-built rental housing. The policy is intended to:

  • Protect the City’s supply of purpose-built rental housing
  • Reduce displacement impacts on tenants where redevelopment is proposed
  • Clarify requirements related to rental replacement and tenant relocation early in the 
    development approval process
  • Eligible tenants must fill out the Tenant Household Need Assessment Form
    • An eligible tenant is someone with a valid tenancy agreement at the time a complete application is received

What is the Manufactured Home Park Redevelopment Policy?

The Manufactured Home Park Redevelopment Policy establishes clear expectations for 
applicants proposing a Zoning Bylaw Amendment that would result in the redevelopment of an 
existing manufactured home park. The policy is intended to:

  • Reduce displacement impacts on residents where redevelopment is proposed; and
  • Clarify requirements related to resident relocation early in the development approval process.

West Kelowna Housing Resources

Please see the links at the bottom of the page 

 

Assessments, Strategies and identifier Counts

The West Kelowna Housing Strategy identifies a set of strategies and actions to improve housing delivery in the community and ensures residents have the housing options they need. The Strategy acknowledges that commitment and collaboration from the entire housing sector is required to improve outcomes in our community. Successful outcomes also require ongoing, broader community support and engagement.

The four key directions

The Housing Strategy's Key Directions address the community’s housing needs related to supply, diversity, and affordability:

  1. Create more opportunities for non-market housing.
  2. Protect and increase market rental housing.
  3. Create more opportunities for housing for under-served demographic needs, including seniors, people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, diverse household sizes, and others.
  4. Create more options for housing throughout the community through more diverse forms and densities.

Each key direction has an associated series of actions, and an implementation timeframe.

How the Housing Strategy links to the Official Community Plan

West Kelowna’s Official Community Plan (OCP) describes the City’s long-term vision and includes objectives and policies to help direct growth. The Housing Strategy intends to complement the OCP's direction by providing high-level guidance towards future policy and bylaw development to accommodate growth that meets our community’s diverse housing needs.

The City's Infill Housing Strategy recommends actions to advance infill housing that fits within the West Kelowna context, and facilitates and monitors long-term success.

About infill housing

Infill housing refers to development in established areas of the community that can be serviced with existing water, sewer, and road networks. For the purpose of the City’s Infill Housing Strategy, ‘infill housing’ includes ground-oriented development that is three stories or less.

The City's most recent Housing Needs Assessment was completed in 2024. This standardized report aligns with the requirements of the Provincial government and is intended to help the community better understand the current and future housing needs.

 

The 2024 Westside Unique Identifier Count (UIC) reports on several social issues related to homelessness, including the increasing reliance on services for immediate survival such as food and shelter.

The report indicated that:

  • Youth and seniors’ services are particularly at risk
  • Youth often face challenges as they age out of foster care
  • Seniors report significant mobility, health, and affordability concerns
  • Economic instability, driven by unaffordable housing, low income, and lack of family support, remains a primary cause of homelessness.

The report recommends including integrating UIC findings into key City planning efforts including the Official Community Plan, Housing Strategy, and Community Safety and Well-Being Plan.

In July 2018, the City and Westbank First Nation coordinated with community agencies and volunteers to conduct the Westside’s first Westside Point-in-Time Count, which provided valuable information about the individuals experiencing or struggling with homelessness in our community.

The Regional District of Central Okanagan's Regional Housing Strategy (RHS) explores tools and actions, including improved coordinated efforts, that can address housing issues, needs and gaps throughout the region, including affordability, supply, and supportive housing challenges.

The strategy focuses on the regional district as a whole and identifies a range of actions at the local level specific to non-market and market housing in the Central Okanagan East and West electoral areas, City of Kelowna, City of West Kelowna, District of Lake Country, District of Peachland, Westbank First Nation, and Okanagan Indian Band.

Non-Market and Social Housing in West Kelowna

Non-Market housing is housing that is owned and operated by a not-for-profit housing organization, cooperative, or municipal, provincial, or federal government. Non-market housing buildings include homes that are subsidized and are focused on supporting households who make low and moderate incomes.

Social housing is housing that is designated to accommodate shared temporary, transitional, or permanent residential uses and support or rehabilitation services, and is typically operated by or in partnership with Provincial or Federal programs along with social and medical service providers. 

Additional Information about Housing and Resources in the Community

Please see the links below to learn more about available resources to support non-market and social housing service navigation, including help for community members who are unhoused.

The West Kelowna Temporary Shelter at 2515 Bartley Court, is a safe space, providing 42 warm beds available for people 19 and older who are experiencing homelessness, through a partnership between BC Housing and Turning Points Collaborative Society, with support from the City

The temporary modular shelter provides:

  • Common areas
  • Kitchen
  • Hygiene facilities
  • Individual rooms

Contact West Kelowna Temporary Shelter

Learn more about BC Housing's services, programs and facilities:

The West Kelowna Women’s Shelter helps women and children fleeing domestic abuse.

The building offers 10 transition house/emergency units, where women who are fleeing an immediate domestic abuse situation can stay for up to 30 days. 

A further 32 second-stage units are available for women and children who have experienced domestic abuse and need time and programming to further support their healing journey. Women can stay in second-stage housing for up to 12 months. Second stage units range from one to four bedrooms.

  • 24-hour helpline: 250-763-1040
  • 24-hour textline: 236-970-0704

Non-Market seniors' housing units in West Kelowna are located at:

  • Central Okanagan Co-Operative, at 2421 Last Road; 35 units (1-bedroom to 3-bedroom) for retired or semi-retired seniors 55-plus.
  • Lions Manor (Westbank Lions Seniors' Housing), operated by Turning Points Collaborative Society, at 3715 Gellatly Road, 40 subsidized independent housing units for seniors (55+) with low income.

The Seniors Outreach & Resource Centre offers a housing directory for Central Okanagan seniors looking for low-income, supportive, long-term assisted living housing: Seniors Outreach Directory

More Seniors' Housing Supports:

Non-Market family housing units in West Kelowna are located at:

More Family Housing Supports:

 

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