FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 28, 2026

SURREY, BC — Mike Starchuk today released Imagine Surrey’s plan to build more homes in Surrey, faster, and more homes people can actually afford: a clock on every permit, with the fee coming back to the applicant when City Hall misses it, City land put to work for non-profits and co-ops, incentives for below-market homes, and an average of 1,000 supportive homes a year for four years, built with the province.

Brenda, Doug, and Linda’s parties formed a consensus at City Hall to block affordable and supportive housing; Surrey is ready to vote for the only team that will build homes that your family can afford: Mike Starchuk and Imagine Surrey.

Surrey knows how to build. In the year ending June 30, the City granted occupancy to 5,307 net new homes and beat the province’s target by 14%. What it has not built is homes for the people who keep the city running. CMHC’s latest rental report found that even with vacancies across Metro Vancouver at a 30-year high, only 1% to 2% of the units a lower-income household can afford were empty. More than 54,000 homes have rezoning approval and no shovel. And the 262 homes the province offered to fund in Semiahmoo Town Centre were sent back by council in November and cancelled by BC Housing in February.

The plan: 

• A decision on a residential building permit within 180 days, or the fee starts coming back. For every week City Hall runs late, 25% of the fee is refunded, and at seven months the permit is free. 
• A 60-day lane for renovations, home businesses, secondary suites, and minor improvements, with the same guarantee.
• A 180-day clock on rezonings and development permits, the applications that decide whether homes get built at all, with the City’s fee discounted when the clock is missed. 
• Pre-approved designs for laneway homes and suites, and a Permit Concierge Desk for homeowners and small builders. 
• A City Land for Housing inventory published in year one and offered to non-profits, co-ops, and Indigenous housing providers, with covenants that keep the homes affordable for decades. 
• Incentives for developments with below-market units, and support for co-ops and co-housing. 
• Supportive and complex-care housing on transit arteries with services on site, in every part of the city, at an average of 1,000 homes a year for four years with BC Housing and Fraser Health, and a yes when City staff recommend it. 
• Growth planned with the school district so a new neighbourhood arrives with classrooms, not portables. 
• A better deal for renters in the towers going up in City Centre: support for the BC rent bank, and pet-friendly rental buildings. 
• And an empty homes tax, with every dollar going to affordable housing.

The City’s contribution is land, approvals, and a business plan. Ottawa and Victoria fund the construction, inside Imagine Surrey’s rule of property tax increases at or below inflation for four years. Every quarter, the City publishes three numbers: homes approved, homes built, and homes people can afford.

“I spent 32 years in the fire service, and my last job was deciding whether a building was safe before anyone moved in. I know the difference between a permit that protects people and a permit that sits on a desk,” said Starchuk. “Every month a rezoning waits, the rent goes up for the family that was going to live there. Sixty days for the small stuff. One hundred and eighty for the big stuff. Miss the clock and the fee starts coming back, a quarter of it every week. Miss it by a month and the permit is free; that’s how we unlock abundant affordable housing for Surrey.”

“I have four kids and a lot of neighbours in Newton wondering where their kids will live,” said Yousef Aldabainah-Barakat, Imagine Surrey council candidate. “A suite or a laneway home shouldn’t take a year of consultants. A pre-approved design and a 60-day answer is how a family builds.”

“Surrey has proven it can build. Now it has to build homes its own nurses and teachers can afford,” said Starchuk. “This October, put out the fire at City Hall and elect a team that will say yes to homes.”

Imagine Surrey is committed to lower costs, including homes people can afford. Imagine Surrey’s full platform will be released in the coming days.

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About Imagine Surrey

Imagine Surrey is a civic party running a full slate of candidates in the October 17, 2026 municipal election. Led by mayoral candidate Mike Starchuk – a former firefighter and Chief Fire Prevention Officer, former City Councillor, and former MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale – Imagine Surrey is committed to making Surrey the City of Champions by delivering: safe streets, fast commutes, smart investments, lower costs, and strong services.

Council candidates: Yousef Aldabainah-Barakat, Chandan Chahal, Perminder Chohan, Narima Dela Cruz, Ashiyana Hanif, William Li, Dr. Margaret Mubanda, and Kevin Wilkie.

Contact
Trevor Loke, Campaign Manager
604-838-5178
[email protected] / [email protected]