The City created the Burnaby Housing Authority Corporation as a municipal housing authority to help deliver more secure, purpose-built housing in Burnaby, including non-market and market rental ... and potentially non-market ownership. The advantage of the Burnaby Housing Authority is that it is nimble, innovative and bold—able to act like a developer while delivering housing for public benefit and helping fill gaps in Burnaby’s housing supply. Work is now underway on their first two approved projects which will deliver 387 new rental homes across Burnaby—including 183 rental townhomes in partnership with Mosaic—to help meet the growing demand from families in our city.

The Burnaby 2050 Official Community Plan was the largest public consultation in Burnaby’s history. There were 61 events, workshops or meetings. As well as more than 3,500 survey responses and almost 24,000 comments informing the final plan. After four years of deep community consultation, we delivered this plan last December. It is the City’s long-term plan for how Burnaby grows and changes over time, setting city-wide direction for land use, housing and infrastructure, as well as guiding zoning decisions.

CAPITAL INVESTMENT

So, over the past few years, Burnaby has delivered an unprecedented level of capital investment. Many of these investments were necessary because core infrastructure had gone too long without renewal—the Burnaby Lake aquatic facility, for example, was more than 20 years overdue for replacement. We now need to ensure that Burnaby does not face a similar catch-up situation again. Going forward, we must apply what we’ve learned to ensure capital investment is ongoing, efficient, and sustainable. Which is why the City commissioned an external and independent review of our capital project delivery—called Building Burnaby Better. It was released publicly last month. The report makes clear that Burnaby is in a strong position.

COMMUNITY CENTRES

We are incredibly excited that the three cornerstone, community centre projects in our capital construction program have now surpassed 50% completion. This is not only the largest capital construction program Burnaby has ever undertaken, but one of the largest municipal investments in community facilities anywhere in Canada. Major projects include:

• The replacement Cameron Community Centre and Library, which will be one of the largest community centres in Western Canada. The new complex is designed to meet the growing needs of northeast Burnaby and includes dedicated youth and seniors' spaces.
• The Burnaby Lake Recreation Centre, which will be the largest aquatic facility in Western Canada. The Project includes a new 10-lane 50 metre pool, 6-lane 25 metre pool, and an NHL-sized rink, plus improved connectivity and parking. All adding to the growing reputation of Burnaby Lake as the competition capital of British Columbia – or even Canada.
• The new theatre at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, which will deliver a new 364-seat, modern performance theatre with flexible seating and specialized program space, supporting a wide range of community, cultural and professional arts programming.
• The Brentwood Community Centre, which will serve one of the fastest growing neighbourhoods in the city.

RCMP DETACHMENT/COMMUNITY SAFETY HEADQUARTERS

The City and the RCMP are working together to build a new three-storey, 129,000-square-foot detachment to replace the existing facility on Deer Lake Avenue. Built in 1967, the current building is another example of critical infrastructure that simply had to be replaced. Burnaby RCMP is one of the largest detachments in Canada, and construction of the new Community Safety Building is now over 50% complete as we continue to prioritize public safety across our city.

ROADWAYS

The City has also invested in new north–south connections, in particular:

• in the construction of the new Burnaby Lake Overpass—an engineering feat that now provides a safe crossing for pedestrians and cyclists. The fully built, 400-tonne overpass being lifted into place over Highway 1 overnight, felt like a milestone not only for the project but for Burnaby.
• And in the four-lane overpass crossing the rail lines at Holdom Avenue, which once completed, will improve traffic flow and safety, and increase trade capacity and efficiency.

EMERGENCY EXERCISE

We are also working hard to improve emergency management in Burnaby – in terms of preparedness, alerting, training and wildfire readiness. The City is planning a multi-agency, full-scale emergency exercise on Burnaby Mountain next year, which is intended to test emergency procedures, equipment, facilities, training and inter-agency coordination.

WILDFIRE DETECTION

Early this year, we led the way and implemented the City’s first ever early wildfire system in partnership with SFU. This was a strategic investment to enhance the protection of Burnaby Mountain, where timely warnings and notifications are sent to our fire department to help reduce wildfire risk. With the support of the latest technology, we have smoke detection cameras and ground sensor nodes capable of identifying heat and smoke in near real time. Last month, we saw this technology in action for the first time—working exactly as intended. In the middle of the afternoon, in an area near local businesses, the system alerted us to a fire before we received any calls from the public, allowing our team to prepare before the first report came in. This is what you call proactive response and mitigation.

Remember: whether by provincial legislation, City bylaw or Council policy designation, reserves and reserve funds are restricted to their defined uses. They can’t be redirected for other purposes—to balance budgets or lower taxes. They can only be spent on precisely what they are held for; for example, major capital investments, land acquisition or equipment replacement. Burnaby's disciplined and sustainable use of reserves and reserve funds has allowed us to invest at historic levels while consistently maintaining one of the lowest tax increases in the region. And when we compare our per capita debt per person—you can see the effect of this approach. We are certainly not in bad shape….