Housing Accelerator Fund is Good News for Winnipeg
In meetings last June and July, City Council approved priorities and an application to the Federal National Housing Strategy Housing Accelerator Fund. The application was for over $190 Million and passed on July 4th coucil meeting. The package we wanted to work on with the support of the federal government included Winnipeg specific priorities to:
- Modernize zoning rules to increase density near major transit routes, and get more housing built, with a focus on affordable housing and projects to help the homeless. (CMHC predicts that Manitoba will need at least 150,000 additional units of housing by 2030).
- Focus on building multi-family housing downtown and along major transportation corridors.
- Create more than 5,000 net new housing units over the next three years, and more than 15,000 over the next decade. That’s on top of major projects like Naawi-Oodena (the Canada Lands portion has a target of 20% affordable), Polo Park, U of M Southwood Lands, and Railside.
- Make it easier to build affordable, supportive, and mixed-income housing, especially on City-owned land.
I was convinced then, as I am now, the money is needed in Winnipeg.
As part of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities I along with other Councillors across the country have lobbied for this money to support our Affordable Housing Now program and Poverty Reduction Plan. The Big City Mayors have also lobbied for this money to address homelessness impacting our cities and the need to support housing. We also need enabling infrastructure like water and sewer because we are at capacity.
I continue to support drawing down as much housing dollars and resources by doing the hard work, cultivating public and private partnerships to build capacity and get money out the door. The work, this term and last term, includes redesigning the adminstrative structures like Winnipeg's housing unit, and arms length organizations like Centreventure to do so. Unlocking federal funding through the Housing Accelerator Fund is key to addressing the homelessness crisis in our city and adding more housing that’s affordable for families and young people.
Securing this fund, is just as much a priority to me as the Rapid Housing Initiative was which saw $25Million move out to housing partners with shovel-ready projects. That money was significant, but a fraction of what we are now set to receive with the over one-hundred-million housing accellerator funds.
So, perhaps like you, I have been concerned about the recent conversation (and advertisement that one councillor has put into the newspaper) reducing the funds to a simple question of zoning.
The issue for some, is the letter we received on October 24th from the federal minister. It was a letter that spoke positively of our overall application. It also contained a "bolstering note" on four stories and four units as of right i.e. "The Federal Requirement". These changes are required by the federal government so we can qualify for federal housing funding.
Why I am not worried and you shouldn't be either
Back in July we approved the housing accelerator funds for several key priorities from converting commercial to residential in the downtown, building mid-rise apartments on mall sites, and corridors, building needed enabling infrastructure (like water and sewer so we can in fact build), and to build more affordable housing - 40% or $75 Million of our application is for affordable housing. The vote is not solely about four units and stories and certainly not about worse things like the commodification of housing or our city building being subject to developers. These are made-in-Winnipeg solutions I continue to support and that are supported by the federal program.
Developers are homeowners like you and I. They work in the private and public sector. They can be businesses, they can be school divisions and as Chair of Property and development the public sector not for profit housing or any given school division can be just as frustrated by the confines of Winnipeg's zoning rules and press for policy change as a private-for-profit developer.
The Housing Accelerator Fund is a competitive fund on a national level. If we don’t make changes, we might not get our fair share of the Fund. However, with successful votes keeping in mind the overall package above and commiting to navigate policy implications of the bolstering note we will get a first quarter payment in the first months of the new year 2024. Given the bulk of the priorities we want to work on, from housing priorities to enabling infrastructure - that would be very good news.
Other Cities experience
Several Canadian cities have recently made changes in response to their own priorities and federal requirements for the Housing Accelerator Fund, including: Kelowna, Calgary, London, Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, Mississauga, Brampton, Richmond Hill, Moncton, and Halifax. Important to note that Winnipeg has also tried to get ahead with changes with motions Mayor Gillingham and I initiated some time ago with respect to corridors, and mall sites. Across the country you can find:
- Edmonton adopting new zoning bylaw allowing up to eight units per lot.
- Toronto adopting a four-unit per lot rule in May.
- The BC government announcing legislation that will impose 4-6 unit per lot requirements in all cities.
Winnipeg is known as a slow growth city
Given Winnipeg's economics, and policy style, (We like pilots in a way I sometimes get frustrated with.) slow incremental growth is usually our steady-as-she-goes pattern. We preference neighbourhood level policy work, and there are good reasons when looking at affordability, for instance, to get into detailed neighbourhood level policy work.
Winnipeg is required to conduct public hearings for any zoning change and when we support change the move towards the policy doesn't always happen fast. We have time to consider the implications and policy structures necessary to manage the federal ministers request and continue to work on the housing accelerator program plan we set out in July.
As chair of property and development I know this means continuous transparent and careful work at the standing policy committee.
We have good policy examples on density with secondary plans at the neighbourhood level and near transit that are protective. For instance, Osborne Village largely has the 'as of right' approach Minister is calling for, with supportive bylaw known as the Osborne Village secondary plan. This is a plan that allows for four to six stories as of right.The experience with this plan is somewhat relevant to the concerns being forwarded that density will change neighbourhoods overnight. This isn't true. We are a slow growth city, so even when we have enabling policy it takes time. In the case of Osborne Village over a decade for the plans to start working consistently.
This isn't new work for any of us on Council. In particular the standing policy committee on property and development has been making a series of inclusionary zoning policy moves for a while now in line with the housing crises. For example the two policy ideas I am supporting at the November 22nd meeting that I hope to move forward for a formalized density bonusing pilot, and a fast tracking affordable housing for vacant buildings.
Given the way the program is structured in 4 x 25% increments over three years, the implication of the bolstering note really comes into the last payment of 25% which is a payment based on performance and doing all we said we are going to do. The motion before council sets out the type of work we will need to contemplate.
I plan to support it.
I also plan to do more.
Last term, I held a forum on Housing and Community safety meeting at the museum for human rights. Please read the report on what was heard. I continue to work doing what I said I was going to do and landing the HAF is a big milestone for those of us that have been working with other governments in support of housing.
Please email the office if you have questions srollins@winnipeg.ca