British Columbia·NewCity councillors have ordered staff to reassess a housing project meant to include supportive and complex-care units, saying they heard enough opposition from community members with safety concerns.Housing project across from Semiahmoo mall could still proceed with non-market units onlyChad Pawson · CBC News · Posted: Nov 18, 2025 1:09 PM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Surrey council deliberates at a land-use meeting on Nov. 17, 2025. (City of Surrey)City councillors in Surrey, B.C., have ordered staff to reassess a housing project meant to include supportive and complex-care units, saying they heard enough opposition from community members with safety concerns.“We hear you, we share your concerns about this particular project and how it has been configured,” said Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke at a land-use council meeting Monday, speaking to residents in attendance who have protested the plan.The project proposes building 202 non-market rental dwellings on an empty lot at the corner of 152 Street and 19th Avenue — near Semiahmoo Shopping Centre — along with 40 supportive housing units and 20 complex-care dwellings.Council on Monday voted unanimously to have staff look at the project again and figure out if it could go ahead without the supportive and complex-care units, which council said were proposed by B.C. Housing through the province.The mayor and councillors said Surrey desperately needs more affordable housing for people, like seniors, who struggle to afford appropriate shelter.However, they said there was not enough consultation with the community over the supportive and complex-care portion of the project, which they say is not a proper fit for the neighbourhood.“I fully support the housing component of this project but I can’t support that portion of the project that allows illegal drug use,” Coun. Harry Bains said to applause at Monday’s meeting.“I believe that we should be providing assistance to those who suffer from addiction, we should be providing them with safe spaces to help them stop using drugs, not giving them a safe place to use illegal drugs in our neighbourhood.”The staff report on the proposal says the project would not be a safe injection site, but it would offer housing and supports to people with substance-use disorders. What is supportive, complex-care housing?B.C. Housing says supportive housing is typically self-contained units where residents are provided with on-site, non-clinical supports such as life skills training, connections to health care and mental health or substance-use services.The province says complex care housing is a program implemented in the past few years intended for people who are “at risk of or experiencing homelessness who have complex mental health or substance use issues, and who may also be living with other challenges like acquired brain injury, developmental disability, and histories of trauma.”WATCH | South Surrey residents protest housing project near Semiahmoo mall:Proposed supportive housing project in Surrey, B.C., faces resident backlashA new supportive housing project planned for South Surrey is sparking strong opposition. Some residents say they weren’t properly consulted. As Shivani Joshi reports, some say they’re worried their quiet neighbourhood could change forever.Earlier in November, some Surrey residents protested over the project, saying they weren’t consulted and were worried over how the supportive and complex-care housing could negatively affect their neighbourhood, especially related to potential increases in crime or open drug use.The staff report says the city received 113 responses to the proposal, with 21 people in support, 84 in opposition and eight indifferent. Staff also received a 3,400-signature petition in opposition to the project, the report says.Minister disappointedIn Victoria on Tuesday, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Christine Boyle said she was disappointed in Surrey’s decision.“We know that supportive housing and health supports connected through complex care makes a huge difference in people’s lives and they allow us to bring people out of unsafe encampments and off the street,” she said.Boyle said the ministry would connect with the city to see what next steps on the project could be taken.“We want to make sure that people have good and accurate information,” she said. “I know there’s always a lot of fear and sometimes misinformation about projects like this, so it’s important that we work with Surrey and B.C. Housing to make sure people understand how important this housing is.”ABOUT THE AUTHORChad Pawson is a CBC News reporter in Vancouver. Please contact him at chad.pawson@cbc.ca.
Surrey city council votes to block supportive, complex-care housing
