Last week the federal government announced the $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) was exhausted, and all funds had been earmarked for about 150 communities across Canada. These monies, specifically earmarked as graduated grants to be made available to municipalities, were based on comprehensive proposals and applications focused on delivering more housing, sooner. Per Federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser: “It’s for the most ambitious cities across Canada when it comes to the housing reforms that we’re hoping to see it actually end the housing crisis.”
The Minister and other officials administering the program were very clear from the announcement that it was cities showing a clear commitment to increasing housing supply and expediting the delivery in conjunction with innovative and “out of the box thinking” that would receive the most favourable consideration. Over 540 applications were received from municipalities of all stripes large and small from across the country.
Locally within the HAVAN catchment, approved applications include:
Coquitlam – $25 Million
Surrey – $96 Million
Vancouver – $115 Million
Burnaby – $43 Million
Richmond – $36 Million
Denied applications include Township of Langley, City of Langley, Maple Ridge, Port Coquitlam, White Rock, Delta, and though outside of our area Mission which along with others was denied despite representing some of the highest growth pressure in the Lower Mainland. This link provides a full list of cities receiving the grants.
The application process was tight with the program announced in the Federal Budget of 2022, with the launch in March 2023, and the first award announced in September 2023. Along the way, the Minister withdrew funding from a few Greater Vancouver cities upon learning that they voted in support of implementing a significant Metro DCC increase that would threaten the substance and spirit of “producing more homes faster.” He also denied many applications for cities experiencing growth pressure but who were not prepared to go “all in” or present any forward-thinking proposals.
These cities, for whom the funding was withdrawn, were back in for consideration by the Feds after some concessions were made to provide more transparency and predictability to any future increases at the Metro level, but the DCCs were still instituted and will for sure adversely affect the affordability equation and financial viability of projects across Metro Vancouver. It should be noted that the HAF monies are to be released in installments tied to meeting specific goals and KPIs set by the municipalities in their applications and will be monitored and audited by the Feds (I’m prepared to be amazed).
POST POSTURING PUZZLEMENT
It is therefore somewhat astounding to hear the Mayors of the Township of Langley (ToL) and the City of Langley publicly complain and denounce the program after their cities were shut out of any HAF allocation. The ToL has made no secret of their objections to many of the recently announced provincial housing policies, especially regarding land use and inclusionary zoning. Citing the most extreme potentials and inflammatory rhetoric for allowing four units on a single-family lot, the ToL has frozen applications and gone so far as to rescind standing approvals on three area plans, affecting instream and pending housing applications encompassing thousands of units, representing millions of investment dollars.
Mayor Eric Woodward is quoted as saying “With this, it’s clear to me that we have a federal government more concerned about photo opportunities than actually building more housing. It is a wasteful handout of $4 billion to selected areas that instead could have actually made a difference in municipalities like ours that are doubling the national average for growth rates, yet we receive nothing.”
Given the intransigent and regressive public posturing adopted by the ToL regarding development in their jurisdiction, it should not come as any surprise there was no allocation made available despite them being a high-growth area. There is a rapid transit line coming to serve both the city and township and keeping in mind the provincial Transit Oriented Development policy, both had best start embracing the idea of addressing growth and density issues related to this, and both would also be well served to adopt a less confrontational, and more collaborative demeanor.
IT’S NOT PERSONAL
Minister Sean Fraser has previously commented: “It’s not personal. It’s not a political decision. I’m motivated by the desire to build as many homes as I possibly can with the resources that are at my disposal. And that’s why you will see some cities funded and others that will be unsuccessful.” Provincial Housing Minster Ravi Kahlon has echoed this sentiment many times, stating that to address the housing crisis we need to remove politics from the process and work collaboratively with “all hands on deck” – the sooner the better.
The City of Coquitlam did receive funding from the HAF to the tune of $25 million even though Mayor Richard Stewart expressed concerns over provincial policies regarding overreach, unintended consequences to instream applications, fragmenting staff resources, and delay or loss of up to over $300 million in revenue from charges. Yet Coquitlam has delivered a large volume of housing over the last few years with much more pending as the city has committed to capitalizing on having the Evergreen line in place and transforming the North Rd./Lougheed corridor, as well as Coquitlam Center.
At present, some applications are in flux as the city is trying to cope with accommodating the new provincial policies in the absence of many regulations and guidelines not yet released. The process is still moving forward though, and the city obviously provided enough of a commitment to increasing housing supply to secure a successful application. Coquitlam is by no means perfect but has made credible efforts to expedite approvals and permits with the integration of digital submissions and processing.
The same can be said for Burnaby which also received HAF funding of $43 million – despite reservations on recent policies and ensuing measured actions they continue to move toward the goal and the works we see around Brentwood reflect this, as does the initiatives undertaken regarding laneway homes, ADUs, suites, and now multiplexes. Both municipalities have not decried inclusionary zoning as an apocalyptic event, and both could see real opportunities to provide more housing in what will evolve as an organic and measured progression.
REAL NUMBERS, REAL IMPACT
Despite the notion presented by the ToL that every single-family lot will immediately be committed to at least a four if not a six-plex, this is simply not realistic and the market in Langley would not support this. When laneway homes (LWH) were approved over 12 years ago in the City of Vancouver, almost 100,000 lots that could support a LWH were identified – to date just over 4500 have been built. Multiplexes will evolve in a similar fashion starting in areas with the most need and where they make the most sense probably tied to transit accessibility.
The South Slope in Coquitlam is one such area stretching from the Portmann Bridge to Burnaby south of Como Lake Road. Single-family lots in this area are often measured from 18,000 to 25,000 sq, ft. with homes of 50+ year vintage but relatively small. These lots can easily support multiplexes with room to spare, have ready access to transit, provide a base for residents to live in a well-supported area, and allow access to work within a reasonable commute.
I have personally been involved in a pilot project that saw six 1500 sq.ft., 3brm, 2.5 bath, full basement, single detached homes with 2 car parking, applied on a 22,000 sq.ft. lot in Maillardville.
Due to the zoning assigned by Coquitlam at the time, the tenure became a six-unit strata. My project was successful, fit into the neighbourhood both in scale and character, provided six units vs one, and would have been even more affordable if design guidelines from 1980 had not been applied at the last hour! At the time we identified over 600 lots that would have fit into a similar program across that area and those were just the ones for sale.
The point is, that the weaponizing of housing policy, fearmongering, exaggerating, and political posturing needs to be set aside – industry stakeholders from all sides of the process have the chance to move the needle and provide real housing opportunities with the monies being funneled into the housing arena used to the best outcome.
It is hard to believe the $4 billion HAF is gone, and at the rate at which it was allocated. Add in the province’s previous pledges of $1.5 million, then $4 billion, and most recently $2 billion, augmented by another $2 billion from the feds, and this is a historical amount of funding in play to upgrade and streamline the process, expedite housing supply and delivery, address infrastructure, and support purpose-built rental, below market, and non-profit housing. It will be essential to see accountability and ensure these funds will be directed at works that will be delivered. We are watching.
Your feedback is always welcome @ info@havan.ca.
HAVAN continues to work with CHBA BC and CHBA to advocate for all levels of government to work together to address the challenges of the housing industry including zoning restrictions, density limits, and NIMBYism.
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QUICK BITES …
- There is a lot of discussion going on about the flipping tax and it is estimated that this will adversely affect sales by about 2%, but that does not include “assignments” that often follow pre-sales of strata and other projects, or if such assignments will be subject to the tax. Members are concerned that the flipping tax may sideline enough potential investors that pre-sales which trigger financing could be drawn out, driving delays, or even compromising a project.
- The Task Force for Housing and Climate has released a comprehensive report BLUEPRINT FOR MORE AND BETTER HOUSING: How federal, provincial, and municipal governments can ensure we build 5.8M new homes that are affordable, low-carbon and resilient. The report includes key recommendations for each level of government and while accurate they look eerily familiar!
- Please see this note from Rohit Verma of Statistics Canada as a reminder to those members participating and seeking feedback from others to help put together an accurate and robust report:Statistics Canada is planning to publish a New Housing Market Report on a quarterly basis starting June 4th, 2024. The insights to be included in this report will aid builders and developers in understanding the housing industry, raise awareness about the industry for Canadians, and help policymakers adapt quickly to changing housing needs. This information will be published for a wide range of cities across all provinces in Canada, as well as at provincial and national levels. Our first release will be for British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador. By the end of 2024, we will be adding Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec. Data submitted by your organization is protected under the Statistics Act.Our New Housing Price Report secure link will be sent to you on March 13, 2024, and you will have until March 27, 2024, to upload your file. The steps for your submission:
- You will receive a secure link on March 13, 2024, at your email ID. If you wish someone else in your firm to upload the file, please provide their email asap.
- Upload your file (excel or csv or pdf) by March 27, 2024. Please share data for Q1 2024.You can create your data file anytime and upload the file when we send you the link on March 13th. We are asking for all dwelling (detached, Condominiums, Townhomes, custom built, modular, etc.) listed or sold (including pre-sale) in Canada. Feel free to reach out for further details.Rohit Verma, Senior Economist
Statistics Canada / Government of Canada
rohit.verma@statcan.gc.ca / Tel: 343-550-2078
