Burnaby releases OCP public engagement results

The City of Burnaby released a 106-page “What We Learned” report detailing the results of the third phase of public engagement regarding the Burnaby 2050 Official Community Plan (OCP). The report was discussed during the city’s most recent Planning and Development Committee meeting on Sept. 25. 

The third phase of OCP public engagement involved several surveys regarding each aspect of the OCP, including policy, vision and values, housing, and transportation. This phase also incorporates the recommendations of the Burnaby Community Assembly, which was a parallel process organized and facilitated by the SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. 

The most recent phase of the OCP process took place in September of this year and involved engaging with the community regarding the OCP land-use framework. The land-use framework has drawn some controversy, mainly among single-family homeowners who have expressed concerns about future densification of the city, and want to maintain their neighbourhoods as single-family neighbourhoods. 

While the results of the third phase of engagement show majority support for the city’s plans, including its plans regarding the environment, housing, equity, and Indigenous peoples, the demographics of respondents and participants in public engagement are not representative of Burnaby’s demographics. During the Planning and Development Committee meeting, Coun. Alison Gu also commented on this discrepancy. 

“I was surprised at the actual discrepancy within something as big as an OCP between the economic demographics, the identity of racialization and those who live in single-family homes versus not in single-family homes, and owners versus renters,” Gu said. “I know that we do see that general pattern, but it is very distinct, like 10% of individuals in the respondents identified as a visible minority, and we know that in Burnaby, that number is closer to 70%.” 

According to the OCP public engagement report, participants in the engagement process skewed towards wealthy homeowners who own detached houses, duplexes, and townhomes. Among survey respondents and participants, 70% said they own their homes, and only 20% said they rent. This is different from the reality in Burnaby, where 40% of residents rent, and around 60% own their homes. 

“Almost 40% of survey respondents live in a single detached house or duplex. This is higher than the number of Burnaby residents that live in these types of dwellings citywide (26%). Forty percent of the survey respondents live in an apartment or condo, which is lower than the number of Burnaby residents (53%) that live in apartments or condos citywide; 28% of Burnaby residents live in an apartment or condo more than five storeys, and 35% live in an apartment or condo less than five storeys.”

Regarding income, 56% of survey respondents said they have an income higher than $75,000 per year. In Burnaby, 48% of residents have an income below $80,000 per year. 

There were even starker demographic differences between OCP engagement participants and Burnaby residents. For example, according to the report, only 10% of participants were racialized persons, and 1% identified as Indigenous. This is vastly different from Burnaby’s demographics, where 67.8% of residents identify as a visible minority, and the city often prides itself on being a hyperdiverse city.

Wealthier homeowners were more likely to provide certain responses; for example, they were more likely to prefer a growth scenario that focused most on the densification of the town centres.  

There was a similar stark contrast between respondents who live in apartments and those who live in single detached homes or duplexes regarding environmental and climate change policy directions. 

“Survey respondents who live in single detached houses or duplexes were less supportive of the climate change policy directions than survey respondents who live in townhouses or apartments, with 15% of responses opposing or strongly opposing the policy directions overall,” the report said. 

Housing was another area where income and wealth disparities were apparent in the participants’ responses. Among homeowners of detached houses or duplexes in high-income neighbourhoods, between 21% and 25% opposed policies that are meant to make housing more affordable, equitable, and accessible for future generations. 

For example, this policy direction received 78% support, with 22% of participants opposing it: “Help create different types of housing that meet the needs of different community members. This includes, but is not limited to, housing for people with disabilities, low-income households, families, seniors, Indigenous people, and immigrants.” 

Similarly, another policy direction received 80% support, with 20% opposing or strongly opposing it, “Support housing options that provide security of tenure for residents, such as finding ways to make homeownership more attainable and supporting the development of co-operative housing as an alternative to renting.” This is a lower level of support compared to other policy directions mentioned in the report. 

Responses differed according to age of participants as well. According to the report, “Young survey participants were the most supportive of the community well-being policy directions, with 90% of respondents under 18 and 100% of respondents aged 18 to 24 indicating that they are strongly supportive of the policy directions overall.”

Despite these disparities, overall support for the policies, vision, and plan was very high. The final report will also incorporate the recommendations of the Burnaby Community Assembly. The assembly, which the Beacon covered in detail over the summer, was designed to be more representative of Burnaby’s demographics. 

Once the city has finalized the OCP, it will share the plan with the community and obtain further feedback in another round of public engagement. 

“Confirming will involve sharing the draft OCP and engaging with the community to confirm that the draft OCP reflects their values and priorities for the future. Updates, information and opportunities to participate in the Burnaby 2050 OCP process will continue to be shared on Burnaby.ca/Burnaby2050,” the report said.

This piece was made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

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