Growing Up in Delta — Part 2

By Robert Skinner | Delta City News | September 18 2026

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For many people who grew up in Delta, there was once a fairly simple expectation.

You might leave home, establish a career, get married, have children — and perhaps eventually buy a home somewhere not too far from where you grew up.

Today, that path is considerably harder.

And it raises one of the most important questions about Delta's future:

Can the children we raise here afford to become the families who live here?

In Part 1 of our Growing Up in Delta series, we asked whether Delta is still a great place to raise a family.

For Part 2, we're looking at what may be the biggest obstacle of all.

Housing.

Delta Has Already Recognized the Problem

This isn't simply anecdotal.

Delta's own Housing Needs Assessment identified making the community attractive to young people and families as a major issue.

During the City's housing engagement, residents and stakeholders expressed concern that younger people were struggling to remain in or move to Delta because of housing costs and a lack of suitable options.

Among respondents aged 25 to 44, 80 per cent said housing cost was a factor when looking for a new home.

Almost half — 44 per cent — were concerned about whether they would be able to purchase a home.

The City's assessment warned of a larger consequence: if younger people cannot find suitable housing here, Delta may have difficulty retaining people who grew up in the community and attracting new families.

That's not just a housing problem.

It's a community problem.

The Missing Middle

Drive through Ladner, Tsawwassen or North Delta and much of Delta's housing history is plainly visible.

For decades, the detached family home dominated many neighbourhoods.

That worked remarkably well for generations of families.

But the economics surrounding that model have changed.

A young couple may earn good incomes and still find that buying a traditional detached home in Delta is beyond their reach.

Renting isn't necessarily an easy alternative either, particularly when a family needs two or three bedrooms rather than a small apartment.

That leaves a major question:

What comes between a one-bedroom apartment and a million-dollar-plus detached house?

Townhouses, duplexes, secondary suites, small multi-unit developments and family-sized apartments are increasingly part of the answer being proposed.

Delta Is Changing Its Housing Rules

The housing landscape is already beginning to change.

Delta's updated Official Community Plan identifies areas for greater residential density, particularly around urban centres and corridors.

Provincially required zoning changes also now allow up to four housing units on lots previously associated with single-detached or duplex housing.

The intention is to create more of what planners call the "missing middle" — housing that sits between large apartment buildings and detached houses.

Delta's 2024 Housing Needs Report estimates that 29,457 additional housing units will be required over 20 years.

The City has also been moving faster in the short term.

Between October 2023 and September 2025, Delta reported 1,146 net new homes, exceeding the Province's cumulative two-year housing target.

More homes are coming.

But that doesn't automatically mean more affordable family homes are coming.

More Housing Versus Affordable Housing

This distinction matters.

Increasing housing supply can provide more choice and is an important part of addressing a shortage.

But a newly constructed townhouse or three-bedroom condominium can still be beyond the reach of many young households.

The City itself has acknowledged that the private market cannot, on its own, provide enough affordable housing for households with low to moderate incomes.

Delta's housing strategy therefore identifies market rental, below-market rental and non-market housing among the types the community needs.

And there is another requirement that deserves more attention:

bedrooms.

A community hoping to attract families can't simply count housing units.

Families need housing where children can actually live.

Delta's Official Community Plan specifically identifies the need for more homes with three or more bedrooms.

That may prove every bit as important as the total number of units being constructed.

Growth Brings Another Debate

There is also legitimate opposition to some of the changes.

Residents have raised concerns about density, traffic, parking, building heights, neighbourhood character and the pressure additional population can place on infrastructure.

Those concerns shouldn't simply be dismissed as resistance to change.

The challenge is finding the balance.

How does Delta create housing for the next generation without unnecessarily destroying the characteristics that made families want to live here in the first place?

That debate is already playing out around individual development proposals.

And it isn't going away.

The Generational Question

Perhaps the most revealing housing conversation doesn't involve someone trying to move to Delta.

It involves parents who already live here.

Ask them a simple question:

Could your children afford to buy the home you live in today?

For a growing number of families, the answer may be no.

That has consequences far beyond real estate.

Grandparents may live farther from grandchildren.

Adult children may leave the community where they grew up.

Long-established families become geographically separated.

Schools, sports organizations, volunteer groups and local businesses eventually feel those demographic changes too.

A community isn't sustained simply by increasing its population.

It is sustained when one generation has a reasonable opportunity to become the next generation of residents.

Growing Up in Delta

Delta remains an attractive community.

That's precisely why housing here is valuable.

But if Delta wants to remain a place where families don't simply raise their children, but where those children can eventually establish families of their own, the housing question becomes much bigger than how many units get approved.

It becomes a question about what kind of community Delta wants to be.

We'd like to hear from you.

If you have adult children who grew up in Delta, were they able to remain here?

If you're a younger resident, do you believe you'll be able to afford to establish your family in Delta?

And perhaps the simplest question of all:

Could your children afford your home today?

Growing Up in Delta is a September 2026 special series from Delta City News. Next: Are Delta's Schools Ready for the Next 10 Years?

Robert Skinner - Publisher

Delta City News — Licensed Partner of the WBN News Network

Robert is a Ladner-based business systems developer and Publisher of Delta City News. Connect with Robert on: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rlskinner/

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