Burlington, Ont., will get $21 million from the federal government’s multi-billion-dollar affordable housing plan that seeks to speed up developments.
The cash comes as part of the city’s application for a cut of Ottawa’s $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), seeking to increase the country’s housing supply over the next three years.
“This funding of $21 million for housing in Burlington will accelerate the development of safe and affordable housing to meet the needs of our rapidly growing city where we need it most,” MP Karina Gould, leader of the government in the House of Commons, said in a press conference Monday.
The HAF aids non-profits in cutting red tape and other barriers to speed up approvals for provincial and federal projects with a target of at least 450,000 new homes across Canada over the next decade.
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward told Global News in December 2023 that the cash is key for the municipality’s plan to build housing faster by expediting permits, incentivizing the creation of rental and non-market housing and studying expansions around transit corridors.
The Burlington housing plan, an overall commitment of at least 29,000 units by 2031, centres around three GO Transit stations where underutilized, vacant and parking lot land exists.
“It’s really about making sure that we can accommodate all of the new people coming to Burlington … and that young people can afford a house and people can stay in our city,” Meed Ward said.
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