Big News: Esquimalt Says “YES!” to Cohousing
Have you heard the news? We are thrilled to share that the Esquimalt City Council unanimously approved the rezoning for our project! Council approved the application without any questions and with enthusiastic support from councillors.
The rezoning aligns our property with the Township of Esquimalt's Official Community Plan, which designates the site for medium-density residential development. This approval means we can move forward with permitting leading to construction on our six-storey building featuring 34 privately owned homes, along with indoor and outdoor common spaces where residents can gather for shared meals, celebrations, hobbies and everyday connection. Our project is moving forward!
Our group celebrating outside City Hall. What a feeling!
We were grateful to appear in the Victoria Times Colonist and on CBC Radio One’s “Could Esquimalt Be Your New Place To Live?” episode of This Is Vancouver Island to talk about the project.
Perhaps the most meaningful part of this journey, however, was hearing the thoughtful and encouraging words shared by council members during the rezoning meeting.
Councillor Morrison:
“This is unique to us as a municipality, but it's been done in other places. It's a great success. To me, it just feels like a very creative solution to our housing affordability project. It allows potential homeowners to essentially customize their own building, pool their finances collectively and design something that they will ultimately live in and be very engaged in the community as well. So I think it's fitting that they've selected the centre of our community because residents occupying these homes will be very much a centre of our community as well in terms of their civic involvement and their commitment to our community.
Finally, I would just say I feel almost quite privileged that they did shop around the region, as they said, and they selected Esquimalt. And I think that was fittingly so because of the fact that we are a pretty welcoming, innovative community that wants to try new solutions to our various housing challenges, as I said. I think this is a perfect fit.”
Councillor Brame:
“I love the social connectedness of this project. It is so important for a variety of reasons…The look of the building, how the people are going to be working together, it's going to be fabulous. My hat is off to you because I know that's not an easy task and it takes definitely a certain group of people to be able to do that.”
Rezoning was approved at the Township of Esquimalt’s Special Meeting of Council July 13th, 2026
Councillor Cavens
“I look forward to having dinner in your common house at some point! I'm extremely happy about having this proposal come forward… you know, this is community in itself. And because of the desire to work together, I can already hear that you're all going to be part of, as Councillor Bray said, the outer community as well. And so we will welcome you if you're not already here when you get here to be volunteers, et cetera. And we're going to allow you, as you go forward, to latch on to our saying, which is Esquimalt, the place to be.”
We're incredibly grateful to Esquimalt Council, our neighbours, and everyone who has supported this project along the way. Every milestone brings us one step closer to creating a vibrant, connected community where neighbours know and support one another.
Join Us!
We're currently accepting new members, and we’d love to meet you. Connect with us at one of our upcoming information sessions to learn more about becoming a member, or reach out to us anytime at info@evcohousing.ca. Whether you're ready to explore cohousing or simply curious about the project, we'd be delighted to connect with you.