Delta Community Concerns graphic: The debate is about Bill 44. Where’s the Bill 25 record? Residents deserve to see Delta’s compliance assessment. October 13, 2026.
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Delta’s election debate is about Bill 44. Where’s the Bill 25 record?

The June 30, 2026 provincial housing deadline has passed. Residents deserve to see how Delta met it.

DCC Now  |  Published October 13, 2026

Calls for the Province to repeal Bill 44 have come up during Delta’s public election debates. A separate question deserves a clear public answer: how has Delta complied with the housing requirements as amended by Bill 25?

What Bill 25 changed

Bill 25 did not replace Bill 44. The Province passed Bill 25, the Housing and Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, 2025 in November 2025 and it widened the definition of a “restricted zone.” Under the Province’s policy bulletin on Bill 25, a zone that contains any parcel restricted to a single detached home and/or duplexes is treated as a restricted zone and must meet the minimum unit density. Local governments that had to change their zoning were required to comply by June 30, 2026, unless an extension was granted or an exemption applied.

A comprehensive development (CD) zone is not automatically outside these requirements. The test in the legislation is the residential uses a zone permits, not what the zone is called. Statutory exemptions still apply.

What the Ministry response says

DCC Now’s earlier reporting records an August 31, 2026 response from the Ministry stating that Delta had not notified the Province of Bill 25 compliance. The same response said a municipality whose zoning already complied did not need to notify again.

That means the response does not show that Delta missed the deadline. It does leave an obvious question the City can answer: what assessment shows that Delta’s existing zoning already met the amended requirements?

Monitoring is not an extension

Delta’s reported approach includes monitoring small-scale multi-unit housing implementation and reporting again in 2027. Monitoring can inform future policy, but it does not postpone a statutory compliance deadline.

Extensions are a separate process. The Province’s bulletin set June 1, 2026 as the date for infrastructure-related extension requests, and notifying the Ministry of adopted bylaws is a different step again. A lack of notification therefore does not prove that no extension exists, and an extension, if one was granted, would be a record the City can disclose.

Residents should be able to see one of three things: the City’s assessment showing existing compliance, the amendments adopted to achieve it, or an approved extension covering the affected areas.

Questions for Delta and for candidates

  1. Which residential zones, including comprehensive development (CD) zones, did Delta assess under Bill 25’s amended “restricted zone” definition?
  2. For each zone assessed, which existing bylaw provisions show that it already complies?
  3. Were any zoning amendments necessary? If so, when were they adopted?
  4. Did Delta request or receive an extension? If so, for which areas, on what grounds, and until what date?
  5. How does the City distinguish between optional measures it is monitoring and changes that were legally required by June 30, 2026?
  6. Candidates: if you are calling for repeal, which current statutory provisions, including the Bill 25 amendments, do you want changed?

Candidates are free to argue for changes to provincial legislation. That does not suspend the City’s obligations under the law currently in force.

Residents deserve more than a repeal slogan. They deserve a plain explanation of the current law, Delta’s compliance assessment, and the records behind it.

Disclosure
DCC Now’s editor has a separate, ongoing matter with the City of Delta that also involves Bill 25. The questions in this article concern public records and can be answered by the City regardless of who asks them.

Sources

Published October 13, 2026. If the City provides a compliance assessment or extension record, or if anything here is found to be inaccurate, this article will be updated and the change noted on this line.

This page is general public information, not legal advice. DCC Now does not endorse any candidate.

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