Surrey City Hall

Demand for development is high in Surrey and improvements in the City’s development approval processes are continuing to provide significant positive impact on overall community access to housing.

May 2, 2023
Media Release

Surrey, B.C. – Demand for development is high in Surrey and improvements in the City’s development approval processes are continuing to provide significant positive impact on overall community access to housing. During its Regular Council Meeting Monday, Surrey Council received an update that the City continued to meet or beat all of its Guaranteed Permitting Timelines in the first quarter of 2023.

“I’m pleased that the City has continued to meet its Guaranteed Permitting Timelines in the first quarter of 2023,” said Mayor Brenda Locke. “I commend the hard work of staff in meeting these targets – and beating them in many cases. Surrey has taken a very bold step in setting ambitious targets for processing applications, and for being transparent and open in reporting our performance in meeting these targets each Quarter. This Council recognizes that we are in a housing crisis in this region, and that our role is to do what we can to help deliver good, affordable housing along the with industrial and commercial space that supports good jobs, and to do it as smoothly and efficiently as possible.”

In the first quarter of 2023, the City experienced an increase in applications for Tenant Improvement Building Permits and Rezoning Applications versus the same quarter last year.  New staff resources have been onboarded to assist with site servicing reviews and the associated processing time is expected to be reduced in the coming weeks. The City also seeks to add Renovation/Addition Building Permits, Electrical Permits, and Plumbing Permits to the Guaranteed Permitting Timelines, with implementation in mid-2023.

On average, the City receives 850 Single-Family building permits, 520 Tenant Improvement building permits, and 130 Rezoning applications per year.

The City of Surrey is committed to continuous improvement and is consulting with the development and building industries to find new ways of doing things more efficiently. Staff will continue to further streamline the permitting experience based on data and engagement with the land development industry, including guaranteed permitting timelines for additional permit types. Click here to read more.