St. Catharines has just received $25.7 million in an effort to combat the local housing crisis.
St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle announced on Jan. 17 that the city was the latest of 22 municipalities to have received the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF).
The HAF is a $4 billion program that the CMHC describes as “encouraging initiatives that increase housing supply and promote the development of affordable, inclusive and diverse communities that are low-carbon and climate-resilient.”
In St. Catharines, this money is projected to accelerate the construction of 700 homes in the next three years, and more than 12,000 homes over the next decade.
“This is fantastic news for the City of St. Catharines,” said Mayor Mat Siscoe. “The Housing Accelerator Fund is set to support the City in implementing a range of fresh initiatives aimed at boosting the approval of housing units, ensuring that more individuals have a place to call home.”
According to Storeys, St. Catharines’ agreement for the HAF includes a commitment to seven local initiatives producing houses of differing forms and densities.
It also includes the permission of four units as-of-right, meaning owners of these properties have the right to develop them as they see fit, so long as that development complies with all zoning regulations.
Specific programs are planned to be created to “incentivize the construction of multi-family homes downtown and on transit corridors, provide infrastructure support to increase the number of residential builds, and speed up and digitize development and permit approvals.”
The creation of a land enhancement office and a municipal development corporation are also included in the city’s agreement.
“The reality is there’s not a city who signed a deal with us who hasn’t more or less ended exclusionary zoning in Canada. Cities should know that if you’re not willing to be amongst the most ambitious cities in the country when it comes to zoning reform permitting processes, you won’t be successful,” said Canada’s Housing Minister, Sean Fraser, at an Empire Club of Canada luncheon in Toronto.
Exclusionary housing involves policies that prohibit affordable and social housing in low-density residential areas. Municipalities that have been accepted for the HAF, like St. Catharines, have been open to allowing high-density housing solutions in locations along transit routes and close to urban centres.
“I want to thank the federal government for working collaboratively with municipalities to tackle the housing crisis,” said Siscoe. “Clearly, we are capable of conquering greater challenges when we all work together.”
Hopefully, this move will be a step in the right direction for St. Catharines that allows the city and its residents to see substantial changes in the coming years. Brock students experiencing the full weight of the housing crisis may not see any immediate benefit, but it speaks to a more affordable future for young and prospective Brock students.
