As cities around the country push through changes to become eligible to receive a slice of the federal government’s $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has released a list of 10 strategies that municipalities can undertake to improve their chances of winning the grant.
“The Housing Accelerator Fund is a highly competitive program which has attracted considerable interest across Canada. The Housing Accelerator Fund was created to incentivize local governments to implement the structural and lasting reforms that will increase the supply of housing,” the CMHC said in a statement on Monday.
The Housing Accelerator Fund, a $4-billion federal funding program introduced in the last federal budget, earmarks funds for municipalities to support housing. These incentives are tied to zoning changes that would allow for more mixed and middle housing options to be built.
The CMHC said the top priority for any municipality looking to get federal funding is to end exclusionary zoning.
“Stop low-density zoning and regulation that excludes housing types such as affordable and social housing in residential areas,” it said, adding that cities should “encourage high density by allowing mixed-use development and high-density residential as-of-right within proximity to urban cores and transit corridors.”
In much of the country, zoning restrictions mean developers are only allowed to build either single-family homes or condo towers in residential areas. There is a huge chunk of housing options, often referred to as “missing middle housing,” that does not get built.
The federal government also wants cities to make municipal land available for housing and increase the efficiency of the approval process. According to the CMHC, cities must particularly speed up the approval process for rental and affordable housing.
To increase the viability of high-density, transit-oriented projects, the CMHC said cities must either reduce or eliminate parking standards. Residential buildings in many parts of Canada are required to build minimum parking standards for residents, which could be seen as an impediment to building more housing faster.
Cities must also eliminate restrictions such as those around height, setbacks and building floor area to build a greater variety of housing types, including additional dwelling units (ADUs) in homes. Cities must also develop affordable housing plans so that affordable housing projects can be rapidly rolled out.
The CMHC wants cities to design and implement guidelines or pre-approved building plans for missing middle housing.
It also wants cities to develop grant programs “encouraging the development of housing types that align with the Housing Accelerator Fund.” This includes missing middle housing, row homes and purpose-built rentals.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced his government’s latest investment from the Housing Accelerator Fund to build more housing in Brampton, Ont.
“Brampton is the next city to receive significant funding from our housing accelerator. We estimate that this will mean more than 24,000 new homes over the next decade, with 3,100 fast-tracked to be built in the next three years alone,” Trudeau said, alongside Housing Minister Sean Fraser and Diversity and Inclusion Minister Kamal Khera, as well as Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown.
In addition to Brampton, several cities across the country, such as London, Vaughan and Hamilton in Ontario, as well as Halifax, have already made agreements with the federal governments on housing. Others, such as Kitchener, Burlington and Mississauga, Ont., and Calgary had already made major changes to their zoning policies.
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