The past several weeks have seen a flurry of announcements regarding the federal government's Housing Accelerator Fund, with cities all across the country being given tens (if not hundreds) of millions of dollars to build homes — part of an attempt to address Canada's housing crisis.
But where exactly is that money going, and what is it being used for? Let's take a look.
What is the Housing Accelerator Fund?
The Housing Accelerator Fund is a $4B initiative from the Government of Canada intended to provide incentive funding to local governments so that they can increase their housing supply. Municipalities are given the funds in exchange for making changes that will facilitate the creation of new housing, with each recipient laying out three- and 10-year housing goals for the funds.
Housing Accelerator Fund money is released in installments. After an initial installment, municipal governments must fulfill the requirements as outlined in their agreement with the federal government. Sometimes that means amending an existing policy, other times it may be creating an entirely new program. After meeting the requirements outlined in their agreement, further installments are then released.
On April 2, 2024, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the Government of Canada will be topping up the Housing Accelerator Fund with another $400M as part of Budget 2024.
When did the Housing Accelerator Fund begin distributing money?
The Housing Accelerator Fund was first introduced in the Government of Canada's 2022 Budget. It officially launched in March 2023, with the first announcement coming in September 2023, for London, Ontario. The Government of Canada says the fund will run until 2026-2027.
Which cities are receiving money from the Housing Accelerator Fund?
The cities across Canada that are receiving funding, the amounts they are receiving, and how much housing the funding is expected to fast track in the next three and 10 years, is as follows:
1. September 13, 2023: London, Ontario
- Amount: $74M
- 3-Year Goal: 2,000
- 10-Year Goal: Unspecified
- Amount: $59M
- 3-Year Goal: 1,700
- 10-Year Goal: 40,000
3. October 10, 2023: Hamilton, Ontario
- Amount: $93M
- 3-Year Goal: 2,600
- 10-Year Goal: 9,000
4. October 12, 2023: Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Amount: $79.3M
- 3-Year Goal: 2,600
- 10-Year Goal: 8,866
5. October 20, 2023: Brampton, Ontario
- Amount: $114M
- 3-Year Goal: 3,150
- 10-Year Goal: 24,000
- Amount: $31.5M
- 3-Year Goal: 950
- 10-Year Goal: 20,000
7. November 3, 2023: Kitchener, Ontario
- Amount: $42.4M
- 3-Year Goal: 1,200
- 10-Year Goal: 37,500
- Amount: $900M
- Goal: 8,000 social and affordable units.
9. November 14, 2023: Calgary, Alberta
- Amount: $228M
- 3-Year Goal: 6,800
- 10-Year Goal: 35,000
10. November 16, 2023: Moncton, New Brunswick
- Amount: $15.5M
- 3-Year Goal: 490
- 10-Year Goal: 5,500
- Amount: $31M
- 3-Year Goal: 780
- 10-Year Goal: 41,500
- Amount: $115M
- 3-Year Goal: 3,200
- 10-Year Goal: 40,000
13. December 18, 2023: Mississauga, Ontario
- Amount: $113M
- 3-Year Goal: 3,000
- 10-Year Goal: 35,200
14. December 19, 2023: Burnaby, British Columbia
- Amount: $43M
- 3-Year Goal: 1,290
- 10-Year Goal: 11,340
15. December 20, 2023: Winnipeg, Manitoba
- Amount: $122M
- 3-Year Goal: 3,166
- 10-Year Goal: 15,000
16. December 21, 2023: Toronto, Ontario
- Amount: $471M
- 3-Year Goal: 12,000
- 10-Year Goal: 53,000
- Amount: $27M
- 3-Year Goal: 459
- 10-Year Goal: 3,100
18. January 9, 2024: Summerside, Prince Edward Island
- Amount: $5.8M
- 3-Year Goal: 132
- 10-Year Goal: 725
19. January 10, 2024: Surrey, British Columbia
- Amount: $95.6M
- 3-Year Goal: 2,800
- 10-Year Goal: 16,500
- Action Plan
- Amount: $21.4M
- 3-Year Goal: 750
- 10-Year Goal: 9,450
21. January 15. 2024: Burlington, Ontario
- Amount: $21M
- 3-Year Goal: 600
- 10-Year Goal: 5,000
22. January 17, 2024: St. Catharines, Ontario
- Amount: $25.7M
- 3-Year Goal: 700
- 10-Year Goal: 12,000
- Amount: $27.6M
- 3-Year Goal: 900
- 10-Year Goal: 4,800
24. January 19, 2024: Ajax, Ontario
- Amount: $22M
- 3-Year Goal: 580
- 10-Year Goal: 11,000
25. January 22, 2024: Milton, Ontario
- Amount: $22M
- 3-Year Goal: 800
- 10-Year Goal: 4,700
- Amount: $36M
- 3-Year Goal: 1,000
- 10-Year Goal: 3,100
27. January 22, 2024: Fredericton, New Brunswick
- Amount: $10M
- 3-Year Goal: 300
- 10-Year Goal: 2,500
28. January 23, 2024: Squamish, British Columbia
- Amount: $7M
- 3-Year Goal: 200
- 10-Year Goal: 1,300
29. January 23, 2024: Whitby, Ontario
- Amount: $25M
- 3-Year Goal: 650
- 10-Year Goal: 18,000
- Amount: $22M
- 3-Year Goal: 650
- 10-Year Goal: 15,000
- Amount: $10M
- 3-Year Goal: 300
- 10-Year Goal: 1,000
- Amount: $35M
- 3-Year Goal: 1,000
- 10-Year Goal: 3,000
- Amount: $25M
- 3-Year Goal: 650
- 10-Year Goal: 2,800
- Amount: $176.3M
- 3-Year Goal: 4,400
- 10-Year Goal: 32,600
- Amount: $25.6M
- 3-Year Goal: 730
- 10-Year Goal: 2,300
- Amount: $33.5M (Victoria, Campbell River, Comox)
- 3-Year Goal: 900
- 10-Year Goal: 16,000
- Amount: $13.8M (Banff, Sylvan Lake, Bow Island, Westlock, Smoky Lake, Duchess)
- 3-Year Goal: 400
- 10-Year Goal: 3,100
- Amount: $3.3M
- 3-Year Goal: 90
- 10-Year Goal: 390
- Amount: $4.5M
- 3-Year Goal: 130
- 10-Year Goal: 460
- Amount: $1.9M
- 3-Year Goal: 60
- 10-Year Goal: 300
- Amount: $1.8M
- 3-Year Goal: 45
- 10-Year Goal: 280
- Amount: $175M
- 3-Year Goal: 5,200
- 10-Year Goal: 22,000
43. February 22, 2024: Cape Breton / Unama’ki
- Amount: $13.3M
- 3-Year Goal: 367
- 10-Year Goal: 3,286
44. February 22, 2024: Township of Woolwich, Ontario
- Amount: $6.7M
- 3-Year Goal: 190
- 10-Year Goal: 1,600
- Amount: $5.6M
- 3-Year Goal: 190
- 10-Year Goal: 2,100
- Amount: $4.3M
- 3-Year Goal: 140
- 10-Year Goal: 500
- Amount: $6.1M
- 3-Year Goal: 180
- 10-Year Goal: 2,000
- Amount: $11M
- 3-Year Goal: 190
- 10-Year Goal: 3,900
- Amount: $41.3M
- 3-Year Goal: 940
- 10-Year Goal: 25,200
- Amount: $20.7M
- 3-Year Goal: 600
- 10-Year Goal: 6,500
- Amount: $5.2M
- 3-Year Goal: 170
- 10-Year Goal: 1,700
- Amount: $10.5M (Bathurst, Caraquet, Shippagan, Tracadie)
- 3-Year Goal: 300
- 10-Year Goal: 3,100
- Amount: $18.6M
- 3-Year Goal: 500
- 10-Year Goal: 3,100
- Amount: $4.4M
- 3-Year Goal: 137
- 10-Year Goal: 5,850
- Amount: $2M
- 3-Year Goal: 53
- 10-Year Goal: 360
- Amount: $7.1M (Grand-Bouctouche, Champdoré, Indian Island First Nation)
- 3-Year Goal: 198
- 10-Year Goal: 1,800
- Amount: $24.8M
- 3-Year Goal: 900
- 10-Year Goal: 3,500
- Amount: $2.7M
- 3-Year Goal: 98
- 10-Year Goal: 1,995
- Amount: $13.3M
- 3-Year Goal: 357
- 10-Year Goal: 3,600
- Amount: $9.1M
- 3-Year Goal: 330
- 10-Year Goal: 1,800
- Amount: $1M
- 3-Year Goal: 40
- 10-Year Goal: 1,500
- Amount: $58.8M
- 3-Year Goal: 1,640
- 10-Year Goal: 6,630
- Amount: $3.2M
- 3-Year Goal: 93
- 10-Year Goal: 270
- Amount: $2.1M
- 3-Year Goal: 58
- 10-Year Goal: 900
65. March 14, 2024: Barrie, Ontario
- Amount: $25.6M
- 3-Year Goal: 680
- 10-Year Goal: 4,100
- Amount: $10.4M
- 3-Year Goal: 280
- 10-Year Goal: 4,100
- Amount: $5M
- 3-Year Goal: 180
- 10-Year Goal: 2,000
- Amount: $3.4M
- 3-Year Goal: 116
- 10-Year Goal: 400
- Amount: $1M + $840,000 + $3.2M
- 3-Year Goal: 160 (Total)
- 10-Year Goal: 1,100
- Amount: $1.6M
- 3-Year Goal: 35
- 10-Year Goal: 114
- Amount: $590,000 (O'Leary) / $478,000 (Wellington)
- 3-Year Goal: 27 (Total)
- 10-Year Goal: 150 (Total)
- Amount: $4M
- 3-Year Goal: 132
- 10-Year Goal: 1,900
- Amount: $5.8M
- 3-Year Goal: 200
- 10-Year Goal: 2,800
- Amount: $6.7M (Watson Lake, Dawson, Carmacks, Haines Junction)
- 3-Year Goal: 110
- 10-Year Goal: 1,000
- Amount: $15.3M
- 3-Year Goal: 200
- 10-Year Goal: 1,400
- Amount: $8.4M
- 3-Year Goal: 150
- 10-Year Goal: 2,500
- Amount: $2M
- 3-Year Goal: 30
- 10-Year Goal: 170
Total Amount Distributed To Date: $3.777B
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