Trudeau calls on municipalities to ‘step-up’ on housing plans

globalnews.ca:

London Ont., will be the first recipient of money from the federal government’s $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF).

The city is receiving $74 million from the fund to build 2,000 housing units over the next three years, Housing Minister Sean Fraser and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announced in London Wednesday.

The fund, first introduced in the last federal budget, is aimed at helping municipalities build more homes through measures like speeding up the approval of building permits and changing zoning regulations.

The Housing Accelerator Fund application window for municipalities with more than 10,000 people closed on August 18.

Earlier on Wednesday, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation released a new report, projecting a 3.5-million home supply gap if home-building remains “business as usual” between now and 2030.

When asked about this report, both Trudeau and Fraser pointed to programs like the Rapid Housing Initiative and said they would have more to announce in the coming days.

“You can do more to legalize housing. Because communities across this country in many instances make it illegal to build the kinds of homes that will solve the housing crisis,” Fraser said.

Fraser added that he encouraged London to amend bylaws to allow for a builder to erect four units on a piece of land in order to increase housing supply.

Amid higher interest rates, housing is expected to be one of the main issues facing parliamentarians as they return to Ottawa on Monday.

Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives saw a major surge in support according to several pollsters this summer. Much of this has been attributed to a focus on housing and thecost of living crisis in Conservative messaging.

Prior to the announcement, Fraser