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What's happening in Dunbar-Southlands?

A look at building activity and permit wait times in Dunbar-Southlands, compared against the rest of Vancouver.

Slower than average

Building permits in Dunbar-Southlands took about 117 days recently — slower than the citywide 72.

1The story

In plain terms: Dunbar-Southlands has seen 2,592 building permits on record. In the last few years, a typical permit here took about 117 days, versus 72 days citywide — so it's a bit slower than the average neighborhood. Permit activity peaked around 2017.

2The evidence
117d
typical permit here (recent)
72d
citywide typical
2,592
permits on record

Typical permit wait time in Dunbar-Southlands

Each bar is Dunbar-Southlands's typical wait; the dashed line is the citywide average for that era.
citywide avg2017155d2018164d2019113d2020130.5d2021123d2022173d2023125d2024108d2025117.5d2026126d

Building activity, by year

Number of building permits issued each year.
2017387201823520192652020208202124920222622023258202428920252922026147
3Permit radar — last 12 months

Monthly permit activity

Building permits issued per month in Dunbar-Southlands.
cantOct cant15 cant cantNov cant24 cant cantDec cant19 cant cantJan cant15 cant cantFeb cant12 cant cantMar cant16 cant cantApr cant18 cant cantMay cant30 cant cantJun cant12 cant cantJul cant11 cant cantAug cant14 cant cantSep cant12 cant cantOct cant7

What's been approved recently

The 5 most recent building permits in Dunbar-Southlands.
Date Type Address
2026-10-16Addition / Alteration3042 W 33RD AVENUE, Vancouver, BC V6N 2G7
2026-10-14Addition / Alteration5483 CARNARVON STREET, Vancouver, BC V6N 4G1
2026-10-09New Building4083 W 20TH AVENUE, Vancouver, BC V6S 1G6
2026-10-09Demolition / Deconstruction3491 W 37TH AVENUE, Vancouver, BC V6N 2V5
2026-10-07Addition / Alteration3979 W 18TH AVENUE, Vancouver, BC V6S 1B6

Permit types (last 12 mo)

New Building · 83 (40%)Demolition / Deconstruction · 63 (31%)Addition / Alteration · 49 (24%)Salvage and Abatement · 9 (4%)Temporary Building / Structure · 1 (0%)
4The fine print
How we calculated this
We filtered the City of Vancouver's building-permit records to those tagged 'Dunbar-Southlands' (the city's own local-area classification) and measured how long each took from application to approval, using the median. We compare that against the citywide median for the same years. This is our own analysis of public records.
City of Vancouver open data — Issued Building Permits · as of 2026-10-21 · Vancouver Promise Tracker — your slice of the city's public records.