Community Planning

Staff addresses community and social needs in the areas of affordable housing, crime prevention, employment, youth, seniors and the mobility-challenged. The focus is to address the needs of people and their communities as part of the planning process to balance the more familiar focus on land use, roads and infrastructure delivery. Staff works closely with the Social Planning and Housing Committee.

Affordable Housing

The City is working with other levels of government and community agencies to address homelessness, a growing issue not only in Kelowna but in other cities across the province and the country. The latest homelessness count in Kelowna indicated that more than 400 people are either living on the street or in a shelter.

Many complex issues, such as addiction and mental health, lead to homelessness, and in an effort to address these issues the City works closely with The Homelessness Steering Comitttee and the Central Okanagan Four Pillars Coalition in the areas of education, prevention, harm reduction and treatment.

Earlier this year the province announced $5 million in funding for two local projects through the Premier’s Task Force on Homelessness, Mental Illness and Addictions.

The two projects are:

A supportive housing development for homeless people with mental illness and addictions

and

the relocation of the Kelowna Gospel Mission.

Kelowna has been actively encouraging the development of affordable housing since 2001 when the City established the Housing Opportunities Reserve Fund.

For more information on homelessness, click here.

Community Grants

Community Planning also oversees the following three grant programs:
COMMUNITY SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS
EMERGENCY GRANTS
GRANTS TO ADDRESS THE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF YOUTH

For additional information please refer to:

Documents: