The City of Victoria withdraws its UDI lobby membership.

The City of Victoria withdraws its UDI lobby membership.

By Sasha Izard
March 5, 2026

On March 3, 2026 at a Special Committee of the Whole, the City of Victoria’s Mayor and Council decided to discontinue the City’s paid membership with the Urban Development Institute (UDI) a registered lobbying organization on the BC Lobbyists Registry that represents billions of dollars of corporate interests in development and real estate, after over a decade of the City paying for a corporate membership in the lobby.

The decision was made on a motion arising that the City not pay this year’s UDI membership. The motion arising was put forward by Councillor Stephen Hammond toward the end of the budget session. The decision to end the City’s membership was made by Victoria’s Mayor and Council by an 8-1 vote.

Only Councillor Matt Dell voted against ending the membership, giving himself the distinction of being the only councillor on Vancouver Island in the last 4 years to vote to continue a municipal membership in the UDI, during the final decision that led to a municipality discontinuing its UDI membership.

In September of 2025, when Councillors Hammond and Gardiner put forward a Motion to Discontinue the City’s UDI membership, which was was postponed due to a majority vote by the other council members, Dell stated:

“We are in the pocket of trying to build more housing in the city”.

Letter to Councillor Dell in regard to your comments during the deliberations regarding the City’s membership in the Urban Development Institute at the City of Victoria Sept 4 Committee of the Whole – CRD Watch Homepage

Councillor Jeremy Caradonna who had made the Motion to postpone the decision in September, before voting to end the membership this time around, put up first what appeared to be a meagre resistance this time, seemingly grasping for straws, as he fumbled around with some highly questionable numbers that he seemed to pull out of the air, and which he seemed unsure of, while suggesting that the City’s UDI membership, the cost of which had increased this year by 75%, might somehow save the City costs in paying for attendance at UDI events, something that staff was quick to deny that there was any likelihood of.

Councillor Dave Thompson effectively rehashed his statements from the September deliberations on the issue, before deciding this time to end the membership instead.

Along with Councillor Hammond, Councillor Gardiner was adamantly in support of the motion to discontinue from the City’s membership noting the inappropriateness of the City paying to be a member of a lobby.

Other Councillors stayed silent before voting in support of the motion. Mayor Alto, simply acknowledged that she was supporting the motion.

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This decision marks the fifth municipality, in addition to the Regional Government the CRD, to withdraw from the UDI on Vancouver Island, since I launched my campaign to separate lobby and state 4 years ago. There are only 3 municipalities left on the island that have yet to withdraw: Esquimalt, Colwood, and Langford.

The City of Victoria was the UDI Capital Region’s stronghold on the island, taking about half a year to end its membership, after Hammond and Gardiner’s original motion for withdrawal was postponed about half a year ago.

See: City Councillors Hammond and Gardiner put forward Motion to “Terminate Victoria’s membership in the Urban Development Institute” “effective immediately”. – CRD Watch Homepage

With Victoria having pulled out, it is likely that the last 3 municipalities on the island, who haven’t so far, will follow suit.

The morning after the decision in Victoria was made, Councillor Ian Ward of Colwood, posted on the CRD Watch Facebook page that he has “introduced a motion at Colwood Council to cease our paid membership with the UDI. It should appear on an agenda in March.”

If the City of Colwood also withdraws its UDI membership, which is likely – only Township of Esquimalt and the City of Langford remain municipal members of the UDI on the island, being left to vie for the dubious distinction of being the last municipality on the island to leave the lobby.

Local governments and the regional government that discontinued their UDI memberships In chronological order:

Saanich – Unanimous Council decision (2023)

View Royal – Unanimous Council Decision (2023)

Oak Bay – Staff Decision (2024)

CRD – Staff decision (2024)

Sooke – Unanimous Council Decision (2025)

City of Victoria – Council Decision by 8-1 vote. (2026)

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The Times Colonist, which was and may still be a paying member of the UDI (the UDI pulled down its members directory from public view 2 years ago) – published a full page article on the decision to postpone Hammond and Gardiner’s motion to withdraw from the UDI, in September of 2025.

Decision on membership in developer lobby group postponed – Victoria Times Colonist

Yesterday morning, I sent an email to Andrew Duffy who wrote the article and to the editor and Dave Obee, asking that they cover the withdrawal, given that they provided so much coverage previously to the postponement to it.

Duffy complied that afternoon, by publishing one line about it in the Times Colonist:

“Council also agreed to cancel its membership in the Urban Development Institute for 2026, saving $2,625.”

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