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Burnaby Community Assembly presents recommendations for Official Community Plan
This spring, a representative group of 40 Burnaby residents worked together to develop 24 recommendations for how the City of Burnaby should grow and change by 2050 to create a community where everyone can thrive.
The (BCA) was created in 2024 to help guide the development of Burnaby鈥檚 Official Community Plan. Forty residents representing the diversity of Burnaby's community were selected through a civic lottery and took part in seven full-day sessions from February to June.
鈥淚 want to thank all the members of the Burnaby Community Assembly who graciously provided their time and input to help improve our community,鈥� said Mayor Mike Hurley. 鈥淏urnaby鈥檚 new Official Community Plan should reflect the goals and aspirations of all our residents 鈥� and this innovative process provided a key opportunity for residents to share their priorities for the future of our city.鈥�
The Assembly鈥檚 include calls for Burnaby to:
- Set a target to achieve 20 percent non-market housing by 2050
- Add new urban villages and transition zones surrounding town centres, as well as to encourage more townhouses, rowhouses and low-rise apartments
- Ensure all neighbourhoods have access to amenities and small businesses within walking distance
- Improve transportation by creating a new multimodal path between Brentwood and Metrotown, prioritizing dedicated bus lanes for rapid transit, and taking steps to increase pedestrian safety and accessibility
- Prioritize the use of development revenues for affordable housing, childcare centres and community centres
- Improving public spaces to include more benches, lighting, waste receptacles, washrooms and trees
- Adopting an intergenerational lens for future decision-making so that staff report on potential impacts to future generations for all major decisions
Burnaby City Council will receive and respond to the Assembly鈥檚 recommendations, ensuring the process is transparent and accountable. City Council remains responsible for final approval of the Official Community Plan.
鈥淏urnaby is the first known city in Canada to commission a Community Assembly for its Official Community Plan,鈥� said Robin Prest, Chair of the Burnaby Community Assembly and program director at 911吃瓜鈥檚 Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. 鈥淭his ground-breaking process sets a new precedent for how cities in BC should engage their residents on important issues.鈥�
The Assembly process was designed and overseen by the Centre for Dialogue in a collaborative but arm鈥檚-length partnership with the . The Assembly鈥檚 work complements other public engagement processes led by the City of Burnaby as part of the multi-year development of , its Official Community Plan update.
Additional funding and support for the Burnaby Community Assembly was provided by , and the , a non-profit society founded in 2022 by the City of Burnaby and 911吃瓜 to find fresh solutions to challenges and issues affecting cities.
