The City of Moncton is the first municipality in the province to receive a federal housing accelerator fund.
On Thursday, officials gathered at city hall to announce that $15.5 million dollars in federal funding will be allocated through grants to developers, as well as private home owners, with the goal of getting more homes built faster.
“That is the tip of the iceberg for what is needed to make sure that we have safe, sustainable housing for all our citizens,” said Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold.
The hope is that the funding will allow for “over 490” units to be built over three years.
Arnold said it’s “absolutely not enough” to meet demand for housing in Canada’s fastest growing city.
In early November, Premier Blaine Higgs reportedly said he was considering legislation to block federal housing funding from being given directly to municipalities.
When Global News asked for comment regarding the funding announcement, Higgs said in an e-mailed statement: “Bypassing provincial governments is not the solution. Collaboration is key here as we need all three levels of government to work together on housing and other critical files.”
He also said: “We are also asking for the same consideration that Quebec has in place to work directly with the federal government on key funding initiatives geared to our communities.”
Quebec’s legislation requires the federal government to collaborate with the province rather than municipal governments.
When asked about this at the funding announcement, Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe federal MP Ginette Petitpas Taylor said Higgs should “put money on the table” for housing, and create incentives for builders.
“The federal government made it very clear that we were going to be removing the HST off home bills to accelerate growth. Many Atlantic provinces have removed the provincial part of that tax and I think that’s a great way to encourage growth,” she said.
Mayor Arnold said she “was excited that the Premier was thinking about affordable housing, (and) welcomed (the provincial government) to match the funds that the federal government has invested.”
She said provincial housing announcements “were not happening very fast.”
Moncton was one of 49 communities that applied for the federal funding.