MAPPING VICTORIA - October 2026

September 2026 Housing Starts - October 19, 2026

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) published the September 2026 housing starts numbers for Canada on October 16th. CMHC Deputy Chief Economist Aled ab Iorwerth shared his key takeaway:

"As outlined in CMHC’s latest Housing Supply Report (HSR), a key risk for Canada now is not building enough during this period of softening housing markets across the country. Of Canada’s four most populous provinces, only Quebec has seen modest gains in housing starts for 2026 and each of the seven major centres covered in the HSR are behind 2025’s pace for new home construction. Canada still faces a long-term housing supply gap and unless housing construction levels increase, improvements in housing affordability since 2023 will be difficult to sustain."

As per our usual MappingVictoria practice we've taken CMHC's seasonally adjusted annual rates using a 6 month moving average for September 2026 (to reduce monthly volatility) and calculated the % of single detached housing starts as well as per capita starts to provide greater context for the Victoria numbers amongst select Canada's CMAs (census metropolitan areas). For the June numbers check out our July 17, 2026 story.

Royal Oak Shopping Centre Redevelopment News - Russian Bots at Work? - October 14, 2026

For some reason the Royal Oak redevelopment has been making the rounds on social media this week as breaking news even though there have been several open houses held in 2025 and 2026, the information has been available on the owner's website and the rezoning application was received by Saanich on July 28, 2026. Ok, we're kidding about Russian bots, but it's perfect timing to stir up social media engagement and controversy between the pro and anti-development (Save our Saanich) factions online ahead of this Saturday's municipal elections. MappingVictoria doesn't normally report on projects outside of the City of Victoria boundaries, but we're always interested in shopping centre redevelopments and large projects so here we are - reporting on old news.

Hansbraun Investments Ltd has owned and operated Royal Oak Shopping Centre since 1986 which consists of buildings mostly built in the 1960's and 70's. In their 2026 open house presentation they state "As we near the end of the lifetime of these buildings, we strive to balance the operation of the centre to our high standards while sustaining market commercial rent rates and ensuring the success of our tenants. The challenges we face with older buildings, such as inefficiencies, obsolescence, and modern building code requirements, has resulted in a confident decision that the timing is right to consider a modern, efficient shopping centre design and makeup." Currently Royal Oak has a total of 152,955 square feet of leasable space which is comprised of 59,567 for retail (including a 28, 206 sq ft Country Grocer) 74,917 in office and and 18,471 restaurant space.

Hansbraun has applied to Saanich to rezone the land to create a comprehensive mixed use development with eleven buildings ranging from two to six storeys, which will include commercial space anchored by Country Grocer, a 69 room hotel and 696 residential units with a total of 1,007 parking stalls. As for a potential start date "Construction starts will depend on the stakeholder engagement time, the District of Saanich approval schedule and real estate market conditions. Overall, we do not anticipate to begin any phased demolition until 2027 at the earliest."

The Times Colonist reported on the initial plans in May 2025 and also referenced the adjacent land and "Saanich’s intention to redevelop its 2.7-acre parcel of land that stretches along the 4500-block of West Saanich Rd. as far north as the Fireside Grill and is sandwiched between West Saanich Road and the Pat Bay Highway." In fact Saanich has a whole web page devoted to their plans if you're interested in Saanich developments.

For all the details straight from the horse's mouth with no gatekeeping check out Royal Oak's website for their full presentation and Saanich Development tracker which includes a 149 page traffic impact assessment from May 2026. For now, some pictures, because as they say a picture is worth a lot of words.

Click here to view full size - image © MGBA

Christ Church Cathedral Master Plan Tweaked Again - October 10, 2026

As the Times Colonist reported today, on October 8, 2026 Victoria city council voted in favour of a revised rezoning application which will see the tallest tower on the site increase from 18 to 22 storeys and two other residential buildings reduced from eight to six storeys each. MappingVictoria has extensively covered the revisions of this development in November 2025 and May 2026 in addition to our detailed project page for the Christ Church Cathedral masterplan development.

In total the proposed development will see a total of five new buildings on the site which the Anglican Diocese is developing to cover the estimated $50 million cost of seismic work required for Christ Church Cathedral and additional upgrades and renovations in the cathedral and across the site.

Original plans in July 2024 called for a 24-storey residential building directly behind the cathedral, but that has since been reduced to 12-storeys as a result of discussions with city planners. There is no start date for the development which could take up to 25 years to be be fully realized. This latest revision is a positive sign that future changes may yet bring us closer to the original elegant design as although the overall massing has been approved each individual building will still require future council approval.

August 2026 Revised Plans approved by council - rendering © FaulknerBrowns Architects - Burdett Street looking north with the Cathedral at the far left

July 2024 Plans - © © FaulknerBrowns Architects

Kingston Condo and Vancouver Rental Approved - October 8, 2026

Victoria city council and Mayor Marianne Alto voted unanimously today to approve the rezoning application and development permit with variances application for 475 Kingston Street in James Bay, located on a parking lot 150 metres west of the BC Legislative Buildings. Brought forward by developer Alpha Projects Development Ltd and designed by Merrick Architecture the seven-storey building will feature 60 strata condo units and will incorporate brick, precast concrete, stone, and metal roofs. An amendment was approved which will direct the voluntary $100,000 cash contribution from the developer to James Bay initiatives or public projects rather than Victoria at large. MV project page for 475 Kingston St

Also approved was a 6-storey affordable Indigenous rental housing development with 40 apartments at 2580 Vancouver Street, kitty corner to the Quadra Village Fairway Market grocery store. Once again this is another project which no longer has guaranteed provincial funding, so although it was intended to be fully affordable, M'akola Development Services was only able to commit to two affordable units. City planners indicated the developer is hoping to find new or renewed streams of funding and as surmised by several councillors the project will likely only proceed with pre-approved funding in place thus the actual percentage of affordable units would likely be much higher. MV project page for 2580 Vancouver St

475 Kingston St

2580 Vancouver St

Art Deco Office to Hotel - October 1, 2026

Victoria City Council unanimously approved Reliance Properties' proposal this morning for a new downtown hotel in the former BC Power Commission Building at 780 Blanshard Street. Completed in 1950 it's a late example of Art Deco architecture and is located adjacent to several existing hotels. Reliance Properties purchased the building in 2019 for $14.6 million from then owner Robin Kimpton and in 2020 the Province moved the site's remaining offices to the new Capital Park office development in James Bay. In recent years the building has become a hub for dozens of local artists leasing studio and gallery space at affordable rates.

In 2023 Reliance Properties proposed retaining the original Art Deco 4 storey building and adding an additional 16 modern storeys comprised of a 69 room hotel and 98 condos. According to a June 6, 2026 Times Colonist article "the tower was scrapped due to a saturated residential market and lack of on-site parking". The newly approved plans call for the 'heritage rehabilitation' of the original building with an additional storey resulting in a five-storey 124 room hotel with no residential component and only two parking stalls due to the site constraints. The hotel will undergo structural and seismic upgrades and feature a public café as well a rooftop terraces for hotel guests. The biodiversity mural painted in 1994 by Victoria artist Rick Thomas will not be retained. For more details on the proposal and to see the previous 20-storey plans check out our 780 Blanshard St project page.

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