From Policy to Permits: Reimagining Planning Practice to Deliver Housing
From Policy to Permits is the City of Burnaby's response to a challenge facing communities across Canada: the gap between housing policy and housing delivery. Burnaby's HOME: Housing and Homelessness Strategy established a clear policy direction for increasing housing supply and expanding housing options. From Policy to Permits is focused on what comes next. While policy creates housing capacity, homes are only built when applicants can understand requirements, assess feasibility, navigate approvals and move efficiently toward construction.
Through development approvals reform, digital planning tools, process redesign and organizational innovation, Burnaby focused on an often-overlooked aspect of planning practice: the systems, processes and organizational capacity required to translate housing policy into housing outcomes. In doing so, the City reimagined implementation not as an administrative function, but as a core planning practice.
The Challenge
Policy creates housing capacity. Implementation delivers housing.
The Response
Reimagine the systems that move housing from concept to construction.
Creating a housing delivery ecosystem
Burnaby didn't implement a single project; it built a housing delivery ecosystem including the following major components.
Launched in 2021, the Development Approvals Process (DAP) Program established the foundation for Burnaby's housing delivery transformation. The most significant implementation phase occurred between 2024 and 2026, when the City delivered major process reforms, digital planning tools and a permanent operational capability focused on continuous improvement. Rather than treating permitting as isolated department approvals, Burnaby redesigned the system as a coordinated customer journey. The program has delivered faster and more predictable approvals, improved transparency and established a permanent organizational capability focused on implementation excellence and housing delivery.
As part of DAP, Burnaby implemented a Certified Professional Program to support phased permitting for complex projects. The program allows eligible developments to begin construction activities earlier while detailed review of later project phases continues, reducing delays without compromising regulatory oversight. The approach has accelerated major housing and community projects, reducing approval timelines from as much as nine months to as little as 20 days and helping move housing more quickly from approval to construction.
SHiFT helps homeowners, builders and designers explore small-scale multi-unit housing opportunities before investing in detailed plans. The tool combines zoning regulations, property information, standardized housing designs and feasibility analysis into a single user experience, helping users understand what can be built and whether a project is viable. By matching suitable properties with pre-vetted housing designs, SHiFT helps reduce design costs, improve certainty, and streamline the path to permit application.
AI PreCheck is one of the first municipal AI-assisted zoning compliance tools in North America. The tool allows applicants to upload eligible building plans and assess them against more than 50 zoning regulations before submitting a permit application. By identifying issues early and generating standardized compliance reports, AI PreCheck improves application quality, reduces rework and supports faster permit reviews while maintaining professional staff oversight. The result is better applications entering the review process, reducing avoidable revisions and improving predictability for applicants and staff alike.
Burnaby's digital permitting initiatives modernized the technological infrastructure that supports housing delivery. Through enhancements to EnerGov and the My Permits Portal, the City expanded online application services, automated workflows, standardized processes, improved reporting capabilities and strengthened system integrations. Digital tools now support application intake, review, tracking and issuance, providing applicants with greater transparency while enabling staff to work more efficiently. These investments create the operational backbone that allows housing projects to move through the approval process more quickly and consistently.
Implementation
Implementation was designed as a long-term transformation over a five year period, rather than a single initiative.
Results
Five years after launch, From Policy to Permits has delivered measurable improvements in housing readiness, approval timelines, customer experience and organizational capability, while establishing a long-term foundation for continuous improvement.
Faster approvals
- 85% reduction in residential building permit review time
- Average review time reduced from 21 days to 13 days
- 87% of building permit types already improved
Accelerated housing delivery
- 50 complex projects accelerated through Certified Professional Program (CPP)
- Approvals reduced from as much as 9 months to as little as 20 days
- Over 2,300 housing units accelerated through the CPP
Improved customer experience
- 67% of building permits digitized (intake and issuance)
- 1,770 hours of front counter visits saved (2025)
- AI PreCheck: Checks plans against 50+ zoning rules before submission
- SHiFT: Identifies middle housing opportunities and matches properties to housing plans
- Decision Engine: Guides applicants to the right permit across 38 permit types
Sustaining change
Development approvals are now supported by standardized processes, performance metrics, service level agreements, digital tools and a dedicated continuous improvement function. What began as a time-limited modernization initiative has evolved into a permanent organizational capability that continues to improve housing delivery and municipal service performance.
Recognition and thought leadership
Burnaby's work has been recognized by professional, industry and local government organizations.
- 2026 UBCM Community Excellence Award recipient for leadership in municipal service delivery and development approvals modernization.
- Featured in the Fall 2025 PIBC Magazine as an example of innovative planning practice and implementation.
- 2023 CREDA (formerly NAIOP) Award recipient for Most-Improved Approval Timing, for advancing transparency, predictability and effectiveness in the development approvals process.