Surrey releases draft OCP with 1M residents predicted

The City of Surrey has released a draft of its proposed new Official Community Plan – with the recognition of when staff expect the city to hit 1 million residents. 

Surrey 2050 is a “blueprint” that will guide how the city grows and evolves over the next 30 years, says the report, adding that it could surpass the City of Vancouver as the largest city in B.C.

The draft OCP is 344 pages, which is actually shorter than the recently approved OCP for tiny Port Moody.

The number of homes within Surrey is estimated to jump from 195,000 in 2021 to an estimated 333,000 by 2050.

As for employment, the jobs estimate could climb from 212,000 to an estimated 381,000 during the same period.

“This is a major milestone in planning for the future of Surrey,” said Mayor Brenda Locke. “Surrey 2050 reflects the dynamic nature of our growing city as it approaches one million residents, supporting more affordable homes, stronger infrastructure, and responsible growth for all. We take pride in putting forward a plan that respects Surrey’s past, acknowledges the realities of the present, and looks to a vibrant and bright future.”

Surrey’s last OCP, PlanSurrey 2013, was adopted in 2014. Significant growth, new provincial housing legislation, and evolving community needs have made an update essential, said the city. 

Surrey 2050 modernizes the framework to better support long-term City planning by:

• Reducing policies from over 600 down to approximately 200
• Simplifying land-use designations to reduce the need for future bylaw amendments
• Adding policies on housing affordability, climate change, and economic and infrastructure pressures
• Managing growth in a sustainable, resilient, and community-focused way. 

Since fall 2023, staff have led one of the city’s most comprehensive and diverse engagement processes in shaping Surrey 2050.

Staff engaged with residents, community partners and key stakeholders through surveys, workshops, open houses, pop-up forums and online tools, totalling over 301,800 interactions. 

Surrey 2050 reflects community values and Surrey’s role at the neighbourhood, city, regional and global level. Read through the draft OCP document at surrey.ca/ocp.