Calgary to continue receiving federal housing funding despite blanket zoning repeal

The City of Calgary is still set to receive money from the Housing Accelerator Fund, despite repealing blanket rezoning earlier this month.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has reaffirmed Calgary will be receiving another installment of its portion of the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) despite the city’s move to repeal blanket rezoning, the mayor announced Wednesday afternoon.

As council debated whether or not to scrap the contentious zoning policy in recent weeks, the CMHC warned some of the federal funding could be at risk if commitments were “not met” or “reversed.”

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On Wednesday, Mayor Jeromy Farkas announced the CMHC has confirmed the city will receive the third of four installments of its $251 million total in federal funding as council works on a replacement for blanket rezoning.

“That funding is secure,” he said. “All payments received to date — including today’s — remain secure, and we have a clear collaborative path to secure the fourth and final installment next year.”

The city was initially awarded more than $228 million in HAF money three years ago when it first passed its plan to fast-track more housing in Calgary.

An additional $22 million was then promised last March as the city exceeded many of its homebuilding targets.

“The announcement today from the Housing Accelerator Fund is exactly what we were hoping for. It’s exactly what we were thinking it would be,” said Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly.

“The next step, in terms of where do we (build housing), also aligns with what it is that we heard during the public hearing — which is that density can exist in the city in appropriate places,” Kelly added.

Although council voted to repeal blanket rezoning earlier this month, the policy will not technically be reversed until August. At that time, more than 300,000 residential properties will revert back to base zoning of single-family homes only.

After August, proposals for townhomes or row homes would have to go through individual public hearings to re-zone the land.

The mayor and some councillors have reasserted they will work on a replacement zoning policy, but say it could take up to 18 months.

“I hope that this will actually light a little bit of a fire underneath city council, that we’ll get to work right now, right away, in order to be able to address the concerns of the federal government,” Kelly said.

Under the initial agreement with the CMHC, Calgary set a target of building 41,858 new housing units by October 2026.

The target was revised upward to 42,667 in March.

In a statement, Renée LeBlanc, a spokesperson for the office of the federal Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, said the decision was made to issue Calgary’s third HAF installment with certain conditions.

“Canadians expect their governments to work together to solve the housing crisis,” LeBlanc said, recognizing the progress Calgary has made to date and Farkas’ commitment to develop a “more nuanced approach to land use policy.”

“The government will continue to work with the city to ensure that commitments are met under the agreement,” LeBlanc concluded.