Municipalities were required to submit an action plan to CMHC. The plan needed to identify at least seven transformational initiatives with a proposed number of housing units.

Calgary City Council approved an action plan to help address the housing crisis affecting more than one in five Calgary households. This plan was submitted in June 2023, and The City recently signed an agreement in partnership with CMHC, to increase the housing supply in Calgary to support Calgarians.

The City of Calgary’s Housing Accelerator Fund Action Plan supports seven initiatives. Each initiative has outcomes to achieve with specific programs and projects and allocation of funds to ensure success of the initiatives. 

The City cannot deliver outcomes under each initiative on its own. We will rely on industry, non-profit organizations, major partners, and Calgarians to support. More information on how you can get involved will be communicated soon.

No, the Housing Accelerator Fund is designed to provide incentive funding to local governments and meant to be used to increase housing supply.

The City is partnering with the federal government in receiving funds that can address the growing need for housing across Calgary. The funding will align with the implementation of some of the 98 actions in the Home is here, The City of Calgary’s Housing Strategy. This will help grow housing in both the short and long term in Calgary and address the affordability challenges Calgarians are facing.

The City of Calgary’s action plan was kept confidential during the development of the application to maintain a competitive advantage and secure one of the highest HAF allocations across the country.

During this time, The City used feedback provided by the housing industry during engagement in summer 2022 to inform the action plan. Enabling Housing Growth in established areas, is especially important in addressing barriers identified by industry. Discussions have been ongoing with industry through the Citywide Growth Strategy since 2016 to explore solutions to housing barriers, and many of those ideas were put forward for action under this funding program.

We trust that industry will see that their interests are well represented in these actions, with a particular focus on supporting redevelopment.

The funding will flow in four equal annual payments of $57M. The City received the first advance in November 2023. The second advance is expected in November 2024, with the third advance in November 2025 and the final payment in November 2026. The final payment is contingent on completion of the initiatives and housing unit targets achieved. 

There are three overarching commitments the City has made:

1. Submission of a housing needs assessment (this has been completed). 
2. Completion of the initiatives and associated milestones in the approved Contribution Agreement.
3. Achievement of Housing Supply Growth Targets

1. The City has delivered all reporting requirements and CMHC is satisfied.
2. CMHC is satisfied with The City’s progress on the commitments.
3. The City has achieved the Housing Supply Growth Target. 

The Housing Supply Growth Target is one of the conditions of HAF funding. The target is to create a total of 41,858 units between 2023 October 27, and 2026 October 27. The actual target includes the 6,825 HAF-incented units above CMHC’s determined baseline growth target of 11,500 units per year.

There are also four additional targets for multi-unit housing (10,627 units), missing middle housing (15,956 units), multi-unit housing (4,098 units), and affordable housing units (1.77 per cent of growth target). 

Through the provision of incentive funding, CMHC intends to use the HAF to drive transformational change within the sphere of control of the local government regarding land use planning and development approvals with the overall objective to accelerate supply of housing and enhance certainty in the approvals process.

Additional priorities of the HAF are to support the development of complete communities, support the development of affordable, equitable and inclusive communities and support the development of low-carbon and climate resilient communities.

H-GO is a new housing district for the Centre and Inner City that allows a range of grade-oriented housing. This district adds the option of higher intensity redevelopment than that of R-CG, but still maintains direct ground-level access for all homes (i.e., no apartment forms).

As a result of timing, changes of this new land use district that came into effect 2023 Jan 2, can be considered an initiative as part of the Action Plan.

The decision to change the zoning to RC-G has not yet been made. This is a Council decision with significant public engagement planned over the next few months. The decision to change the zoning or not will be made after the public hearing on 2024 April 22. 

Discussions about the proposal to change the zoning began as part of Housing Affordability Task Force discussions starting in 2022 before the launch of the Housing Accelerator Fund in March 2023. The main reason for the idea is its potential to help address the housing crisis through the creation of more diverse housing options.

The Housing and Affordability Task Force had a mandate to report to Council with advice and policy recommendations related to increasing, measuring, and managing housing affordability and affordable housing along the entire housing continuum, including a survey/review of existing programs, policies, and solutions both locally and in other relevant jurisdictions. 

If Council does not approve the rezoning on 2024 April 22, the final HAF payment may be impacted.