Reading the Burnaby and Coquitlam plans to time your marketing

Step 1: Know which documents matter

There are two sets of documents, one per city.

On the Coquitlam side, the key document is the Burquitlam-Lougheed Neighbourhood Plan. The City now publishes it inside Schedule J, a consolidated set of neighbourhood plans that carries on its earlier plans and supplements the Interim Official Community Plan. The plan describes itself as a living document, and it notes that the 2023/24 provincial Transit Oriented Areas legislation allows more development near SkyTrain stations than its first concepts did. Its core message hasn't changed: focus growth around the stations and along the North Road / Clarke Road corridor.

On the Burnaby side, Lougheed Town Centre is one of the city's four Town Centres. Burnaby's community plans page links the relevant documents, including the 1997 Lougheed Town Centre Plan, its land use map and the Core Area Master Plan for the former mall site now known as The City of Lougheed.

You don't need to read every page. For marketing purposes, focus on the maps and the sections describing where height and density go.

Step 2: Read the rings

Both cities follow the same basic logic: the tallest, densest buildings close to SkyTrain, lower forms further away. The Coquitlam plan states it explicitly, putting the highest densities near the stations, the neighbourhood centres and North Road, with lower heights and densities further out.

For a business, that creates three rough rings, each with different customers.

The tower ring, near the stations

New high-rise suites around Lougheed Town Centre and Burquitlam stations, and along North Road.

• Who buys: new suite owners, renters, and strata councils and managers for the common areas.
• What they need early: post-construction cleaning, painting, blinds, lighting, small electrical, handyman work, locksmiths, movers and storage.
• What they need later: plumbing repairs, appliance work, flooring and suite refreshes as buildings age.
• How to reach them: local search, short campaigns timed to handovers, and strata vendor relationships.

The townhouse ring

Townhouses, low-rise buildings and infill further from the stations.

• Who buys: families and owners who often stay longer, plus strata councils in stratified complexes.
• What they need: a wider mix, including landscaping, exterior painting, gutters, plumbing, electrical upgrades and small renovations.
• How to reach them: local SEO, reviews from neighbours and, for complexes, council relationships.

The established ring

Older detached houses and existing buildings, toward neighbourhoods such as Austin Heights and Maillardville on the Coquitlam side and Cariboo Heights on the Burnaby side.

• Who buys: long-time homeowners.
• What they need: repairs and larger renovations on ageing homes, and sometimes work related to redevelopment of nearby lots.
• How to reach them: search, referrals and a website that shows experience with older housing.

Knowing which ring your best jobs come from tells you where to point your marketing.

Step 3: Watch for completions

The plan tells you where buildings are allowed. It doesn't tell you when each one will be finished. For that, use public information:

1. Developer announcements. Most projects publish expected occupancy windows on their own sites and in sales materials.
2. City development information. Both cities publish details of development applications and approvals. Check the planning sections of the Coquitlam and Burnaby websites.
3. What you can see. A building that's topped out and has windows in is usually months, not years, from handover.

Keep a simple list: building, side of North Road, approximate number of homes, expected handover season. Update it every quarter. Dates slip often, so plan with a margin of a season either way.

Step 4: Turn it into a marketing calendar

With a list of upcoming handovers, you can plan marketing around them instead of spreading effort evenly across the year.

A simple calendar might look like this:

This is the approach behind our move-in marketing service, and the strata side is covered in strata vendor marketing.

Step 5: Use the plans in your own content

Plans also give you honest, useful material for your website. A page that explains what the corridor's growth means for homeowners in your trade, and links to the official plan, is more helpful than generic copy.

For example, a renovator could write about what changes on nearby lots mean for an older house, or a cleaner could explain what post-construction cleaning involves in a brand-new suite. Link to the source, date what you write and avoid predicting specific outcomes for specific properties.

Limits to keep in mind

• Plans aren't schedules. The plan sets out where growth may go, not how many homes will finish in a given year. Actual construction depends on developers and the market, so count completions yourself.
• Plans change. Amendments happen. Check the city's current page, not a saved copy.
• This isn't planning advice. We summarise for marketing purposes only. For anything about zoning, permits or property, go to the city or a qualified professional.

Putting it together

The plans tell you where, the completion watch tells you when, and your own job history tells you which ring pays best. Combine the three and you can be visible in the right place at the right time, which in a growing corridor is most of the battle.

Next, the new-household arithmetic guide shows how to turn housing numbers into budgets. The areas page describes each part of the corridor, and the listings guide covers being found on both sides of North Road.