91大黄鸭 council has supported increasing Development Cost Charges (DCCs) to deal with rising infrastructure construction costs.

The 2.5 per cent hike aligns with the 2024 Consumer Price Index (CPI). This adjustment follows the last DCC update in October 2022. The DCC program outlines a 20-year plan focusing on 234 projects related to infrastructure and parkland, with an estimated cost of $1.33 billion. 

At Monday鈥檚 (Jan. 20) council meeting, staff noted that while construction costs have been rising more than the CPI recently, the city is trying to keep DCC increases reasonable to not overly affect housing prices. Maintaining smaller, regular adjustments can help avoid drastic hikes in the future.

鈥淭his is by far the best policy doing annual adjustments,鈥� Councillor Luke Stack said. 鈥淣ot only is this an annual adjustment, but it also gives them (developers) the 12-month opportunity to adjust their budgets. I think that's very sensitive to the needs of builders.鈥� 

The city consulted the Canadian Home Builders Association Central Okanagan, and Urban Development Institute Okanagan and both supported the CPI increase. 

The new DCC rates, which are approximately three to six per cent of a home purchase price, will be in effect as of March 1 after bylaw adoption by council.