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The Urban Development Institute (UDI) Pacific Region’s Constitution: A Society for “unselfish use of land”.

By Sasha Izard
May 11, 2025

The UDI Pacific Region is the head branch of the UDI in British Columbia. The Urban Development Institute is a registered lobbying group for corporate interests among its paying member organizations involved in real estate and development in B.C.

Urban Development Institute / Anne McMullin, President & CEO – 12-Month Lobbying Summary – Lobbyists Registry – Office of the Registrar or Lobbying of BC

The UDI’s 2018 Constitution (still current), might come as a surprise to some who have followed in recent years the organization’s lobbying activities, which have been highly influential on the Province of BC including on its recent controversial housing bills (e.g. 43, 44, 47), and which have focused on pushing market rate housing and upzoning (without much consideration of the impacts on urban ecology), along with the reduction of public hearings. It is however, well worth the read.

Some might also be surprised at, or find a slight contradiction in its stated aim of promoting “unselfish use of land”.

The former branch UDI branch website for the UDI Capital Region which was pulled down in November of 2023 stated at the top of its homepage: “Join the team of industry leaders and professionals who are influencing the issues that affect your bottom line.”

UDI Capital Region – Your voice in the local development industry

The UDI Capital Region is the Vancouver Island branch of the UDI Pacific Region.

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As the UDI Pacific Region’s Constitution states:

“The purposes of the Society are:

the Objects of the Society are:

to promote well planned communities by encouraging the reasonable and unselfish use of land, resources, and buildings for residential, public, commercial, industrial and recreational purposes;

to promote high standards of competence and conduct in the practice of land and property development;

to promote co-operation and efficient relationships between all persons, firms, corporations, regulatory and governmental bodies and other agencies involved in and associated with land assembly and development;

to promote standards of land and property development consistent with full regard for the environment for
people and with regard to economies for the deployment of available private and public resources;

to familiarize the public and government agencies with the problems and objectives of the development industry and to this end to establish property supervised educational programs and to counteract, where required, pressures which would unduly harm the public interests relating to land use and development”