Trudeau announces $115 million in federal housing funding for Vancouver

Trudeau announces $115 million in federal housing funding for City of Vancouver

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim at the Housing Accelerator Fund announcement for Vancouver on December 15, 2023. (CPAC)

The City of Vancouver will get a share of the much-touted national Housing Accelerator Fund from the federal government.

During a press conference held in Vancouver on Friday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the federal government has reached an agreement with the City of Vancouver to allocate about $115 million to the municipal government to fast-track the construction of new housing, especially affordable units.

It is expected this new federal funding will help expedite over 3,200 new homes over the next three years, and help catalyze over 40,000 new homes over the next decade.

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To be considered to receive a portion of the $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund, municipal governments need to apply and pledge that they will grow the housing supply faster than their historical average, increase densification, encourage transit-oriented development, speed up approval times, and reduce red tape.

“Like so many cities across Canada, Vancouver needs more homes, and fast,” said Trudeau.

“That’s why we’re working with mayors across the country to cut red tape and change the way we build housing. Today’s announcement with Vancouver will help build more homes, faster, so that every Canadian has a good place to call their own.”

Vancouver is now only the second jurisdiction in British Columbia to receive a share of the Housing Accelerator Fund. This follows the announcement in late October 2023 that the City of Kelowna will receive $31.5 million.

In mid-November, the federal government announced $228 million for the City of Calgary towards building 6,800 new homes over three years.

The amount allocated to the City of Vancouver is most similar to the $114 million towards the City of Brampton in Ontario, which has a similar population to Vancouver. To date, other recipients so far include London with $74 million, $59 million to Vaughan, $93.5 million to Hamilton, $79 million to Halifax, $42.4 million to Kitchener, $15.5 million to Moncton, and $900 million to the Government of Quebec.

With the announcement of Vancouver’s funding, Trudeau said today this brings the total number of new homes supported by the Housing Accelerator Fund to over 300,000 units over the next decade — well over the initial 100,000 units when the program was originally announced.

“The housing crisis is a nationwide problem that extends beyond the borders of any single municipality,” said Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim.

“The City of Vancouver is grateful to the Government of Canada for their support as we continue working together to build more homes faster and create a brighter future for all Vancouverites.”

Trudeau also commended the work of the Government of British Columbia on its most recent major housing policy reforms, saying, “We couldn’t imagine having a more engaged and active partner on this file anywhere in the country,” before suggesting that BC’s recent moves are an example for the rest of Canada.

Other Metro Vancouver cities such as Surrey and Burnaby are also expected to receive a share of the Housing Accelerator Fund. Earlier this fall, the federal government had a disagreement with Metro Vancouver Regional District over its planned Development Cost Charges (DCCs) on new housing and decided to delay the funding announcements. Municipal politicians on the board of directors for the regional district sided with the federal government’s position, but were unable to push for a majority decision to delay the implementation of the DCCs.

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