As expected, the City of Kamloops is reapplying for the federal government’s $400-million Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), after its previous application was denied in March.
Community Planning Manager Stephen Bentley says the request is for $11.9 million under the Large/Urban funding stream, which would be used to build 300 units in Kamloops over three years.
“We think through our initiatives we could achieve another 300 units over the next three years, including 150 affordable units,” Bentley told City Council Tuesday. “This would increase the annual housing growth rate by 13 per cent, which meets the minimum target of 10 per cent for the HAF application process.”
Bentley told council that this second intake of the grant program is meant for communities that did not get money earlier this year. He said, if successful, the grant amount would be used for a number of different initiatives.
“$1.4 million would go to the action plan initiatives while $3.5 million approximately would towards investments in affordable housing,” Bentley said.
“Another $3.5 million would go to investments in housing related infrastructure – things like water, sewer, and transit – and the other $3.5 million would go to community related infrastructure that supports housing, so things like parks and active transportation.”
The City’s previous application for $15.6 million to build around 400 units of housing was denied as the initial $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund was oversubscribed.
Of the 87 cities in B.C. that applied for federal funds as part of the initial rollout only 12 made the cut, including Kelowna. The Okanagan community was the only city in the B.C. Interior that got federal help to the tune of $31.5 million.
“We felt confident but it just wasn’t meant to be, so good to hear there is another round but the dollar amount is quite a bit less,” Kamloops Development Director Marvin Kwiatkowski said in June. “If 365 municipalities [across Canada] are applying for the same $400 million, it doesn’t leave a whole lot, but we’ll see where that goes.”
Applications are due by this Friday, Sept. 13, though it is not clear when successful grant applicants will be notified.
It is expected that a number of communities will be rejected once again as the $400 million Housing Accelerator Fund top up – which was announced in the 2024 federal budget – is meant to last until 2027/2028.
“We need housing, we know we need housing. I guess with this [application] we’re being more modest and we think more realistic about what can be achieved directly as a result of the initiatives,” Bentley said.
“And so because we are looking to create a smaller number of units through HAF, that lowers that grant amount.”
You can find more details about the City’s reworked grant application, including a breakdown of how it proposes to use the grant funding, here.