$84 million in additional federal housing accelerator funding for BC cities

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In recent weeks, the Government of Canada announced a further $84 million in federal funding from its Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) to help speed up and catalyze more housing in five more cities in British Columbia.

This includes the allocation of $25 million to the Metro Vancouver jurisdiction of the City of Coquitlam, which will help fast-track over 2,800 new homes over 10 years, including more than 650 new homes within the next three years.

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According to the City of Coquitlam, as a condition of the HAF grant, the funding will catalyze over 6,400 homes in total by January 2027, including about 5,100 multi-family units near rapid transit, about 970 missing middle housing units, and over 200 additional multi-unit housing units.

The federal government’s $4-billion HAF program provides municipal governments with funding in exchange for streamlining their housing policies and processes, reducing application review times, encouraging higher density and transit-oriented development, and incentivizing affordable housing, such as secured purpose-built rental housing and student housing.

Another $25.6 million from the HAF will go to the City of Abbotsford, which will help expedite 2,300 new homes over the next decade, including 730 new homes within the next three years.

Additionally, three municipal governments on Vancouver Island will receive a combined total of $33.5 million from the HAF — about $18 million to the City of Victoria, over $10 million to the City of Campbell River, and over $5 million to the Town of Comox. These allocations are expected to support more than 16,000 new homes on Vancouver Island over the coming 10 years, including 900 new homes over the next three years.

The combined HAF allocation to Metro Vancouver municipalities to date now stands at about $314 million, including $115 million to the City of Vancouver, $96 million to the City of Surrey, $43 million to the City of Burnaby, $36 million to the City of Richmond.

Provincially, the total has reached more than $411 million, including $31.5 million to the City of Kelowna and $7 million to the District of Squamish.

Other HAF recipients so far include Calgary with $228 million, $471 million to Toronto, Mississauga with $113 million, Brampton with $114 million, London with $74 million, $59 million to Vaughan, $93.5 million to Hamilton, $79 million to Halifax, $15.5 million to Moncton, and $900 million to the Government of Quebec.

Through the HAF, the federal government has a goal of expediting at least 100,000 permitted new homes over the first three years of the program, and almost 550,000 permitted new homes over a decade.

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