Housing Accelerator summary, week 24

Edmonton, plus support for smaller communities in Newfoundland, Alberta, and Nova Scotia

Previously:

• Federal plan: London, Calgary, GST on new rental housing

• Housing Accelerator update, weeks 2-4: Halifax, Mississauga, Vaughan

• Week 5: Hamilton, Mississauga, Halifax, Metro Vancouver

• Week 6: Quebec, Kitchener, Guelph, Burlington, Ajax, Mississauga

• Week 7: Mississauga, Brampton, Ajax, Moncton, Richmond Hill, Kelowna, Metro Vancouver, Edmonton

• Week 8: Metro Vancouver, Waterloo, Charlottetown, Winnipeg

• Week 9: Kitchener, Quebec

• Week 10: Calgary, Winnipeg, Moncton

• Week 11: Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg

• Week 12: Richmond Hill, Toronto, Oakville

• Week 14: Windsor, Toronto, Vancouver

• Week 15: agreements with Mississauga, Burnaby, Winnipeg, and Toronto

• Week 17: agreement with Iqaluit

• Week 18: agreements with Summerside, Surrey, and Guelph

• Week 19: agreements with Burlington, St. Catharines, Saint John, Kingston, Ajax

• Week 20: agreements with Fredericton, Richmond, Milton, Whitby, Squamish

• Week 21: agreement with Waterloo, vote in Oakville, Windsor rejected, Surrey details

• Week 22: agreements with Charlottetown, Regina, Coquitlam, low-cost loans for student housing

• Week 23: agreements with Ottawa, Abbotsford, Victoria, smaller communities on Vancouver Island

Channel-Port aux Basques, NL

Federal Housing Accelerator program kicks off with $3.3 million for PAB. Rosalyn Roy, Wreckhouse Press, February 19. Channel-Port aux Basques, a village of 4000 people on the tip of southwestern Newfoundland, was hit hard by Hurricane Fiona in September 2022, with 100 homes destroyed.

A $3.3 million dollar investment, part of the federal Housing Accelerator program, is expected to result in 92 new residential units within the town over the next three years.

Housing was already becoming an issue prior to Hurricane Fiona, and 104 homes, including an 8-unit apartment building, have already come down. Another 57 are scheduled to be demolished later this spring under Phase II of the recovery plan, and along with the province the town has designated an exclusion zone around the coastline where no new structures can be built. The first 92 new homes are expected to take about 3 years, and [Gudie] Hutchings announced that there will be almost another 300 built after that in Port aux Basques.

More: A year after Fiona hit Newfoundland, people grapple with fears about life near the ocean. Padraig Moran, CBC Radio, September 2023. Describes what it was like when Fiona hit.

Banff, Sylvan Lake, Bow Island, Westlock, Smoky Lake, and Duchess, AB

Banff gets $4.6 million in federal housing cash to spur development. Steven Wilhelm, Calgary Herald, February 19.

Banff is getting more than $4.6 million from a federal program aimed at easing the housing crunch in the mountain town.

The funding is part of $13.8 million being paid out from the federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), announced Monday by Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Minister Sean Fraser. Other Alberta municipalities receiving funds are Sylvan Lake, at almost $5.5 million, while Bow Island, Westlock, Smoky Lake and the Village of Duchess will split the remaining $3.69 million.

The $13.8 million will help fast track 409 homes over the next three years, and as many as 3,100 over the next decade.

[Mayor Corrie DiManno] said unavailable and unaffordable housing is the No. 1 issue facing Banff, and the funding will allow the town to provide financial support and incentives to spur housing development, particularly with accessory dwelling units — suites within an existing property. It will also help reduce or eliminate parking requirements and make updates to its density intensification policy.

Edmonton, AB

Edmonton is ahead of everyone else, even BC, in legalizing infill housing (“missing middle”). Their new zoning bylaw came into effect January 1, after five years of work. They removed minimum parking requirements back in June 2020.

I’m glad to see that Edmonton is receiving Housing Accelerator funding. It’s a demonstration to other municipalities that they don't need to wait to be asked, they can go ahead and make housing reforms without holding onto them as future bargaining chips.

Federal government announces $175M to build affordable housing in Edmonton. Bob Weber, Canadian Press, February 21.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday $175 million in funding to fast-track more than 5,200 new housing units in Edmonton over the next three years.

The 10-year target is 22,000 additional homes.

More: Edmonton passes new zoning bylaw.

Exchange between Jason Nixon and Sean Fraser

Jason Nixon, Alberta’s minister of seniors, community and social services, posted an open letter to Sean Fraser, saying that Alberta should receive a per-capita share of the Housing Accelerator funding.

In response, Sean Fraser posted an open letter the same day that I thought was polite but clear:

On the first issue, it is imperative to note that HAF is an incentive fund, and is not allocated on a per capita basis. In fact, this would have defeated the spirit of the fund as it would have predetermined outcomes in what was meant to be a competitive process. The fund is intentionally designed to incentivize the most ambitious housing reforms and reward municipalities that agree to implement them.

That said, despite there being no obligation or expectation of per capita funding for provinces and territories under this fund, in Alberta’s case, we got pretty darn close. If HAF were a program which allocated funding on a per capita, rather than a competitive basis, municipalities in Alberta would receive 11.52% of the overall fund. I am happy to share that we are advancing agreements with municipalities in Alberta that are worth 11.49%, or over $450M, of the overall fund. Your suggestion that there is a significant shortfall is not borne out by the facts, which demonstrate a variance of only 0.03% under a population-based formula.

As an aside, I find your objection regarding Alberta’s population-based share difficult to accept, not only because it is not established by the facts, but also in light of public comments regarding the potential for Alberta to prevent communities from receiving funds directly from the federal government through provincial legislation. It is difficult to insist that a fund which provides resources directly to communities could achieve a per capita share, if provincial legislation prevents communities from receiving it altogether.

Fraser went on to observe that the Alberta government has the power to reform land use directly, as BC is doing:

Moreover, should Alberta be considering legislation to prohibit federal funds from flowing directly to communities, I would suggest that a better alternative to help reach positive housing outcomes would be to adopt province-wide housing reforms. HAF is designed to deal directly with municipalities because they have the authority to implement the reforms at a local level that we wish to incentivize across the country, and where we do not have legislative authority at a federal level, we can only incentivize communities to implement these reforms with funding. We have made the decision to do this because we are determined to solve the problems that make it expensive, difficult, and time-consuming to build homes at a local level.

Unlike the federal government, the Government of Alberta has direct responsibility for municipalities, and therefore it would be open to Alberta to follow the lead of other provincial governments and introduce legislative reforms to improve and expedite the process for building homes.

Cape Breton Regional Municipality and Membertou First Nation, NS

'It's a godsend'; Feds work with CBRM, Membertou to spur housing growth. Mitchell Ferguson and Ian Nathanson, Cape Breton Post, February 22. Cape Breton Regional Municipality is receiving $11.4M: among other initiatives, it will allow six units in serviceable areas. Membertou First Nation is receiving $1.9M to support housing and infrastructure.

The targets are oddly specific: an additional 367 homes over three years, 3286 over 10 years.

New Glasgow, Westville, and Pictou, NS

'A serious local impact on communities' : Feds announce $5.6 million for affordable housing in Pictou County. Sarah Jordan, SaltWire, February 23. The targets are 190 homes over three years, 2100 over 10 years.