Mayor ‘steaming’ about stopping of supportive housing in Surrey

Mayor ‘steaming’ about stopping of supportive housing in Surrey

Published 3:20 pm Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke says she’s “steaming” about the provincial government stopping 954 supportive housing units in Surrey while at the same time expecting it to meet housing targets it imposes on the city.

“We got a letter in February – they cancelled all eight of eight units, 954 housing units all different kinds women’s transitional, youth housing, shelter and supportive housing, Indigenous housing like that,” Locke told the Now-Leader. “They cancelled every one of them on us. It was $421 million. I’m actually steaming over this.”

On Feb. 19 Locke and council received a letter from Naomi Brunemeyer – BC Housing’s director of regional development for the Lower Mainland – concerning the “need to adjust the pace of housing developments” given “fiscal constraints.”

Brunemeyer said two projects – Semiahmoo Town Centre supportive, complex care and affordable housing as well as Grosvenor supportive housing and shelter – will no longer proceed.

Others being “deferred” include Old Yale Road women’s transition housing (Shimai replacement, on a BCH-owned site) and five on City of Surrey-owned sites including the 104th Avenue women’s transition housing, youth supportive housing for 14646-104A Avenue, the Newton Site shelter and supportive housing, FRAFCA/192nd Indigenous housing and Surrey Gateway at 13310-108th Avenue.

Brunemeyer told council BC Housing is committed to moving forward with these projects but “progress may be slower because provincial housing investments will be flowing as a slower pace, and we will need to ensure that investments are aligned with funding availability.

“We understand this update may be disappointing,” she wrote, “given our shared commitment to providing much-needed housing in Surrey.”

“Thank you for you understanding, and for your continued partnership in supporting housing across the city,” Brunemeyer concluded.

Locke said the City of Surrey had been negotiating with BC Housing all last year to the point where the city purchased “a bunch” of property for projects.

“Surrey of all cities needs help with this stuff,” she said.

“Surrey’s done very well on our housing targets but you take just about a thousand units out of our housing targets? We’re not going to hit them, no way. They set these targets for us to reach and then they say oh, but we’re going to pull the rug from under you for a thousand of those units.

“It’s ridiculous. How the heck are we supposed to do that?”

Locke said she’s spoken with Premier David Eby and Christine Boyle, minister of housing and municipal affairs, about this issue without satisfaction.

“What is going on?” the mayor asks. “We had all of ours cancelled and again we’re seeing all of this stuff happen in Vancouver. We the City of Surrey purchased land for some of these because that’s our contribution, right – the space and then they build. And they were cancelled. Well, they say deferred. Deferred is aka for cancelled, I think.”

“I thought we were going to be able to talk to the ministry but it’s obvious they are not interested in making any changes. Deferred means cancelled. I’ve had meetings with the minister. I was trying to get a meeting with her and she kept saying I’m too busy, I’m too busy. We had a meeting with her a couple of weeks ago with her but she didn’t have anything to add.”

Locke noted it’s “pretty obvious” homelessness on Surrey’s streets is showing “a lot more than it ever did before, and we got nothing. This really is bad to me. One of them was 30-bed youth supportive housing. They cancelled them. The shelter site – a Newton shelter and supportive housing site – a supportive complex care and affordable housing was cancelled, another one on Grosvenor Road was cancelled.”