Kamloops has been shut out of money from Ottawa’s Housing Accelerator Fund.

Saying they were “a bit taken aback,” Community Planning Manager Stephen Bentley has confirmed to Radio NL that the City of Kamloops’ $15.6 million request has been denied.

“We found out last week, and we don’t actually have rationale as to why,” said Bentley. “So we are going be meeting with CMHC staff later this week, so we look forward to hearing what’s going on there.”

The Federal government confirmed this week that it reached housing agreements with 179 municipalities as part of its $4-billion fund that was being offered to help cities speed up local housing, in exchange for changes to bylaws and regulations that would boost home construction.

Ottawa says the competitive process resulted in 544 applications, but only one-third of them were successful.

Of the 87 cities in B.C. that applied for federal funding, only 12 will see any money, a 13.8 per cent success rate.

Three of those B.C. cities – Victoria, Campbell River,  and Comox – are on are on Vancouver Island, with eight in the Lower Mainland – Abbotsford, Coquitlam, Squamish, Richmond, Surrey, Burnaby, North Vancouver, and Vancouver.

Kelowna is the only city in the Interior to get federal help, to the tune of $31.5 million.

Kamloops is the only Interior city which is currently under provincial housing target mandates, and hoped to use its share of the grant to build about 400 units.

Speaking to Radio NL in January, Bentley said the City put in a “solid application” adding he hoped that those provincial targets would have been “supportive of our application.”

“We’re going forward as best as we can with our resources,” Bentley said Monday. “That is what we have to do.”

Housing Minister Sean Fraser said the agreements that have been signed across Canada that will help build 750,000 homes over the next decade.

“The housing accelerator fund has led to the largest up-zoning movement in Canadian history,” a government news release said.

It lauded “ambitious housing reforms” in big cities, small towns, rural areas and Indigenous communities.

Experts often point out Canada’s housing shortage is caused in part by excessive red tape, slow permitting processes and high development fees at the municipal level.

The agreements, which run until 2026-27, are expected to help fast-track 107,000 permits within the next three years.

– With files from Paul James & The Canadian Press