Read the OCP Policy Guide and share your feedback!

Learn about our draft high-level Policy Directions. Take surveys to help refine and prioritize them to achieve our community's long-term vision.

We’re creating a new Burnaby’s Official Community Plan (OCP) to set the long-term vision for managing the city’s growth. Burnaby 2050 is a multi-year process that involves engaging community members in dialogue about the future of Burnaby.

About this project

The Burnaby 2050 project will help us develop a new Official Community Plan that will guide and manage Burnaby’s growth over the next 25 years in a way that reflects our community’s aspirations and values. The renewed OCP will be contemporary and considerate of emerging trends, issues, challenges and opportunities—particularly in areas of housing affordability, climate change and resilience. It will set out the priorities, goals and policies for the City to work towards over the short, medium and long term.

Our path to reconciliation

The City of Burnaby is actively working with the four host Nations on whose unceded territory the City of Burnaby is located, including the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) Peoples, as well as the Indigenous people living in Burnaby, to advance reconciliation by building and maintaining positive relationships.

Through the process of developing the new Official Community Plan (OCP), we know that the way we live on this land and grow our community needs to be guided by a commitment to decolonize and Indigenize the City’s systems, policies and processes. This means different ways of thinking and doing community planning work together.

Project Phases

Completed

This phase involved the project initiation and background work being undertaken by staff to prepare for the project.

Planning and Development Committee Reports

This phase focused on raising awareness about the project and inviting the community to learn more about the project and become engaged. Initial engagement involved educating the community on the purpose of an OCP and providing information on how the city has grown along with a series of Insights Reports on topics of interest related to the OCP.

Planning and Development Committee Reports

Events

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to chat with us at one of our summer 2022 pop-up events! We reached over 3,500 people, and learned about your thoughts on a variety of topics, including what you love most about Burnaby:

  • community inclusion (sense of community and diversity)
  • parks, nature and green spaces
  • social infrastructure (community centres, schools, social and public events)

Phase-1-Surfacing-What-We-Heard-Report.pdf

Display boards

What-is-an-OCP.pdf

How-has-Burnaby-changed-reduced.pdf

What-is-the-process.pdf

OCP-Drawing-Content-Entries.pdf

Phase 2 of the Burnaby 2050 Official Community Plan engagement focused on developing a long-term vision for our city’s growth.

In the summer and early fall of 2023, community members had the opportunity to participate in a survey, speak to us at pop-up events throughout the city, and attend our Visioning Dialogue events. We heard what people love and value about Burnaby, and what their priorities are for the future of the city.

We also invited the host Nations, on whose traditional territory the City of Burnaby is located, to participate and share their vision for the future for urban Indigenous peoples living, learning, working and playing in Burnaby.

Phase 2: Policy Development Approach

City Council received the OCP Policy Development Approach – Policy Reviews and Growth Modelling Report at the November 20, 2023 Council meeting. The report outlines the policy review work to be done by cross-disciplinary staff teams from across the organization in fall 2023 and winter 2024.

Phase 2: What We Learned Report

City Council received the What We Learned Report at the November 20, 2023 Council meeting. The report summarizes the engagement work, the participants and the key findings. Emerging themes from the engagement data include the importance of protecting nature and greenspace, the need to provide more affordable housing choices, the public’s safety concerns, the need for infrastructure and services to keep pace with population growth, and the need to expand public transit and active transportation across the City.

What we learned in Phase 2 - "Visioning"

In Phase 2: Visioning, we focused on developing a long-term vision for our city’s growth. Community members had the opportunity to participate in a survey, speak to staff at pop-up events and attend six Visioning Dialogue events. We learned what people love and value about Burnaby, and what their priorities are for the future.
  • Access to parks and green spaces
  • Local walkability
  • Sense of community
  • Access to public transit
  • Housing unaffordability
  • Lack of housing options
  • Strain on infrastructure and services
  • Climate change impacts
  • More affordable housing options
  • Safe active transportation infrastructure, such as cycling and walking paths
  • Protected green spaces and natural areas
  • Greater access to health care, mental health care and support services
  • Better access to amenities

In progress

This current phase involves setting the priorities, strategic direction and policies that will support Burnaby in achieving the community’s vision for 2050. Phase 3 will include several opportunities for community members, key stakeholders and host Nations to provide feedback on the key sections and policy areas of the Official Community Plan including draft policy directions and growth scenarios.

Feedback gathered through this phase of engagement will be used to refine the draft policies and help prioritize the steps we take to achieve our community’s long-term vision for Burnaby.

Learn more about the Phase 3 engagement opportunities at Burnaby.ca/Burnaby2050survey

Future phases

This phase will involve engaging with the community to confirm that the draft OCP reflects their values and priorities for the future.