Keep Kelowna
moving forward.
We got back to basics. We made progress. Now it’s time to keep building.
Four years ago, Kelowna was under real pressure.
Crime and disorder were affecting neighbourhoods and businesses. Our rental vacancy rate was below one per cent. Major transportation projects had been talked about for years without moving forward. Growth was putting more pressure on roads, services and infrastructure.
We changed direction.
We invested in frontline public safety. We accelerated housing and infrastructure. We started building long-delayed roads, recreation facilities and neighbourhood projects. We strengthened financial accountability at City Hall. And we fought for Kelowna with the provincial and federal governments when the solutions were outside municipal control.
There has been real progress.
But I know residents need to feel more of that progress in their daily lives.
The next four years are about building on the work we started: safer streets, more treatment, homes people can afford to own, roads that keep people moving, more good jobs and stronger neighbourhoods across Kelowna.
Here is my plan:
A Treatment First Approach
We built real pathways off the street. Now we need the treatment system to match them.
Over the last four years, Kelowna established 180 tiny homes. More than 125 people have already moved from those sites into permanent or supportive housing.
Those pathways matter. But we need to keep expanding access to treatment and recovery.
People who want recovery need treatment when they are ready for it. Families dealing with severe addiction and mental illness need more options. And neighbourhoods should not be expected to absorb the impacts of poorly planned provincial services.
Over the next four years, I will:
Push to end the current model at the Outreach Urban Health site downtown, while demanding expanded detox, treatment and recovery capacity in Kelowna.
Fight for mandatory compassionate care in the Okanagan, including using available capacity at the Okanagan Correctional Centre for people who pose a serious danger to themselves or others.
Secure a regional treatment and recovery centre based on the Red Fish model, providing longer-term voluntary treatment and recovery support here in the Okanagan.
Push the Province to restructure how the social service office in Rutland operates, including stronger security, and regular consultation with nearby residents and businesses.
Demand stronger neighbourhood protections around provincially funded health and social-service facilities, including security plans, faster cleanup, protection of entrances and public spaces, and clear accountability when problems persist.
Compassion means giving people a real path toward recovery while protecting the community around them.
We put more people on the front lines. Our Crime Rate has gone down for three years in a row. Now we need to continue building the permanent public-safety capacity a growing city requires.
Safer Streets
Public safety has been my first priority as Mayor.
This term, Kelowna added 33 RCMP officers, 17 Bylaw Enforcement Officers and 18 firefighters. We strengthened patrols, added dedicated community-safety resources, restarted the RCMP Auxiliary Program, launched a Business CCTV Registry and created a Business Security Rebate.
We are seeing progress. But I hear from residents and businesses who tell me there is more work to do.
The answer is not to stop investing. It is to keep building the frontline capacity needed to make progress visible in every neighbourhood.
Over the next four years, I will:
Fund 75 additional frontline public-safety positions, including RCMP officers, firefighters and Bylaw Enforcement Officers.
Establish a permanent, coordinated 24/7 public-safety presence in Downtown and Rutland, building on the increased patrols and overnight presence introduced this term.
Continue the Business Security Rebate, making it easier for local businesses to invest in cameras, lighting, stronger doors, windows and other security improvements.
Continue expanding practical crime-prevention tools, including business coordination, CCTV registration, auxiliary policing and targeted enforcement where problems are most persistent.
Advance the study of a tiered policing model to identify opportunities to expand frontline enforcement capacity
Kelowna is growing. Our frontline public-safety capacity has to grow with it.
We strengthened Kelowna's economic foundation. Now we need to create more opportunities for the next generation.
More Jobs and Opportunity
Kelowna has enormous economic potential.
This term, we made Economic Prosperity a Council priority, brought in millions in grants, expanded YLW, advanced work to unlock the airport's East Lands and brought major sporting and cultural events to our city.
Now we need to turn those assets into more jobs, more private investment and more opportunities for people to build careers here.
Over the next four years, I will:
Create the YLW Economic Corridor, working with senior governments and the private sector to service and unlock employment lands around the airport for aerospace, advanced manufacturing, logistics and other major employers.
Strengthen Kelowna as a major-events destination, aggressively pursuing sporting, cultural, conference and business events that deliver measurable economic benefits for local businesses.
Launch Kelowna First Jobs & Careers, bringing employers, UBC Okanagan, Okanagan College and employment organizations together with a goal of creating 1,000 first-job and early-career opportunities over four years.
Young people should not have to leave Kelowna to build a career.
We strengthened financial accountability. We will keep investing in the basics while demanding value for every dollar.
Best Value for Taxpayers
This term, Kelowna introduced service-based budgeting, expanded financial reporting and increased value-for-money audits from one each year to four. The City also secured tens of millions of dollars in outside grants to help deliver housing, infrastructure, childcare and community projects without placing the entire burden on local taxpayers.
Over the next four years, I will:
Keep Kelowna's taxes among the lowest in B.C. while protecting core services.
Continue four value-for-money audits every year and strengthen follow-through on their recommendations.
Maintain quarterly financial reporting and stronger oversight of major capital projects.
Aggressively pursue grants, partnerships and alternative revenues to reduce the burden on local taxpayers.
Fight for a better fiscal relationship with the Province, so fast-growing cities like Kelowna have predictable funding to build the infrastructure growth requires.
Fiscal responsibility means controlling costs, demanding value and protecting the services people rely on.
Fix the Bottlenecks
We finally got major transportation projects moving. Now we need to tackle the bottlenecks residents deal with every day.
For too long, Kelowna talked about advancing major road projects – but never built them.
This term, Council launched a Transportation Accelerator Program, advanced the KLO Bridge replacement, Glenmore Road widening, Burtch Road, Hollywood Road and other major projects, and completed preliminary design work on the Clement Crosstown Connector.
The next four years need to build on that work.
My plan will focus on major transportation priorities:
Start construction on the Clement Crosstown Connector, creating the major east-west Midtown connection Kelowna has discussed for decades.
Deliver a Mission Bottleneck Plan, including capacity improvements on Benvoulin Road from KLO to Casorso and improvements around the Casorso, Swamp and Benvoulin intersections.
Finish the Burtch Road corridor from Glenmore Road to KLO Road, creating a stronger continuous north-south route.
Complete the Hollywood Road and Gateway connection, improving northeast connectivity and access to major employment lands.
Accelerate improvements to Glenmore Road toward John Hindle Drive, preparing one of Kelowna's fastest-growing corridors for the future.
Advocate for a new Kelowna Regional Transit Centre expanding transit capacity from 117 to over 230 buses.
Call on the province to make a second Okanagan crossing a provincial priority project.
We will also build the Commonwealth Road connection and plan for future access improvements around YLW.
For too long this city said no to infrastructure. My approach is simple: build the infrastructure before the bottlenecks get worse.
We Built more homes. The next challenge is making certain people can build a future here.
More Homes People Can Own
Four years ago, Kelowna's rental vacancy rate was below one per cent.
Since then, thousands of new homes have been built, approvals have been accelerated, new infill housing has been fast-tracked and the City secured $31.5 million through the federal Housing Accelerator Fund. The rental vacancy rate has returned to a healthy rate.
That progress matters.
But for too many young people and working families, the bigger question remains: Will I ever be able to own a home in Kelowna?
The next phase of our housing strategy will focus on the kinds of homes people can build their lives in.
Over the next four years, I will:
Make attainable homeownership a central City housing objective, alongside continuing to increase overall supply.
Create a Family Homes Incentive to encourage more two- and three-bedroom homes suitable for working families and first-time buyers.
Continue cutting unnecessary delays and barriers to getting good housing projects built.
Advocate for the removal of the PST on homebuilding
Ensure there is a healthy supply of zoned, available land for housing.
Building more housing was the first challenge. Helping more Kelownians own a home is the next one.
A strong community needs places where kids can play, families can make memories, seniors can stay active, and athletes and community groups can thrive.
Stronger Neighbourhoods
Over the last four years, Kelowna opened and improved parks across the city and moved ahead with major recreation investments, including the new Parkinson Recreation Centre and new activity centres in Glenmore, Mission and Rutland.
Big projects matter. So do the smaller things residents see outside their front door.
Over the next four years, I will:
Make everyday City service easier to track, with a new customer experience program with enhanced digital tools for submission and tracking of issues such as potholes, graffiti, damaged infrastructure and other neighbourhood concerns.
Bring back Rutland May Days and look at other neighbourhood community events.
Continue building community spaces across Kelowna, so growth is matched by the parks, recreation and public amenities residents need.
Every neighbourhood should see and feel the progress our city is making.
Stay tuned for platform updates
Keep building.
Kelowna has come a long way in four years.
We have strengthened frontline services. We are building infrastructure that sat on plans for decades. More homes are being built. New parks and recreation facilities are underway. City finances are more transparent and accountable.
There is still a lot more work ahead.
Kelowna cannot afford to go backwards. We cannot afford to stop investing in public safety, infrastructure, housing and the services a growing city needs.
The next four years are about building on the progress we have made and finishing the work we started.
Safer streets. More treatment. Homes people can own. Roads that keep us moving. More jobs. Stronger neighbourhoods. Better value for taxpayers.
Let’s keep building a safer, stronger and more prosperous Kelowna — for all of us.