The University of Victoria’s undeveloped south campus lands could become one of the most populated areas of Greater Victoria, and in so doing, potentially absolve the District of Oak Bay from accommodating thousands of Provincially-mandated new housing units by the 2040s, Citified has learned.

 

 

According to the Upper Henderson Residents, a neighbourhood group focused on Oak Bay housing and community planning matters, the university has been in discussions with the District of Oak Bay to take on the District’s nearly 3,800-unit, two-decade Provincial housing target on its Cedar Hill Cross Road lands at the southeast portion of the campus.

 

In a November 5th emailed update to its membership obtained by Citified, the organization says that “according to Oak Bay planning staff, this additional density [at UVic] satisfies the Provincial requirements on creating sufficient housing ‘capacity’ in the near term. Council has now explicitly committed to working with UVic on the university's offer to build all 3,761 units in Oak Bay's 20-year provincial housing target on its Cedar Hill Corner property.”

 

The University is said to be engaged with the District on the early steps of a rezoning effort for approximately 40 acres of land along Cedar Hill Cross Road, west of Cadboro Bay Road. The anticipated build-out would include a mix of commercial and residential uses in a wide range of building sizes, including highrise towers.

 

Given that not all student housing forms are likely to satisfy Provincial housing targets due to the interior make-up of units like small, multi-bed dormitories, there is a likelihood that UVic’s total number of residences at its south end will surpass the 3,761-unit mandate set out for Oak Bay, and yield addition housing density.

 

Nevertheless, if the south campus housing development proceeds with a goal of satisfying housing density on behalf of Oak Bay, UVic’s total new housing commitment over the next 20 years is likely to be larger than the Oak Bay quota. The university is already in the throes of building new housing, with plans for 240 student residences on the north or Saanich side of campus off Sinclair Road. The upcoming dormitory units are expected to complete in 2029 in the form a 17-storey tower with a seven-storey wing. The investment comes on the heels of a two-building housing project that wrapped up in 2022 and 2023, with 385 beds (while replacing a small collection of aged dormitories).

 

In addition to UVic’s transformative housing goals, Camosun College’s Lansdowne Campus has an application before the District of Oak Bay for a six-storey, 400-bed, 118-kitchenette student housing project on Foul Bay Road north of Lansdowne Road. Construction, according to the college, could begin in 2026. Much of the housing forms at this project will not satisfy Provincial housing expectations due to its interior layout.

 

 

The District of Oak Bay, meanwhile, has recently pulled back on some of its densification plans along Cedar Hill Cross Road that explored mid-rise buildings similar in scale to density coming to Saanich, such as six-storey residential blocks. The District has since reduced the scale to townhomes along Cedar Hill Cross. Elsewhere in the municipality, lowrise and mid-rise buildings are envisioned for select streets, with building height potential of up to six storeys (including at the Oak Bay Lodge site), and two pockets along Beach Drive that could allow for 12-storey massing.

 

In 2023, the Provincial government mandated a net-new housing quota for Oak Bay totalling 664 units to be built and occupied by summer of 2028. The Province has appointed a housing adviser to the District and issued housing policy directives, in light of only 16 units completed in the first year compared to the mandated 58. Under the Provincial housing regime, Oak Bay is required to supply 3,761 net new homes over 20 years. C

 

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