Housing Accelerator Fund

  About the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF)

The Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) is a national program administered by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to help local governments make lasting changes that improve housing supply. The program supports affordable, inclusive, equitable, and climate-resilient communities by removing barriers and providing incentive funding to speed up housing development.

In December 2024, the City was awarded $7,978,160 through the HAF Round 2 application process and signed an agreement with CMHC to deliver initiatives that will increase housing supply and create more housing options in our community.

  Funding Goals and Targets

The City and CMHC have agreed to a Housing Supply Growth target of 1,343 housing units by 2028, including: 199 single-family units, 814 missing middle units, and 330 multi-units; an additional 114 affordable housing units are targeted as a subset within the overall targets.

Program funding can be invested in:

• Completing HAF Action Plans
• Affordable housing projects
• Housing-related infrastructure
• Community-related infrastructure that supports housing

 Key Initiatives

As part of the HAF agreement, the City has committed to delivering seven initiatives, broken into 18 milestones:

1. Rental Use Zoning & Policy
2. Incentives for Non-Market Affordable, Priority Housing, and Missing Middle Housing
3. Expanding Infill Housing & Accessory Dwelling Units
4. Zoning Bylaw Updates & Density Bonusing Program
5. Pre-Approved Building Plans & Design Guidelines
6. Housing & Community Amenity Development
7. Development Approvals Procedures Streamlining

For more details, including milestone descriptions, deadlines, and progress updates, review the information found in the drop downs.

Reporting

The City will complete its first annual HAF report, covering progress toward growth targets and initiative updates, and submit it to CMHC in December 2025.

Learn More

• Dec. 9, 2025 Council Report - Incentives for Priority Housing
• Dec. 9, 2025 Council Report - Pre-Approved Building Plans & Design Guidelines
• Oct. 21, 2025 Council Report - Incentives for Priority Housing and As-of-Right Zoning for Non-Market Housing
• Aug. 26, 2025 Council Report - HAF program update
• March 11, 2025 Council webcast
• Announcement from the Government of Canada: Helping build more home, faster in British Columbia
• Aug. 27, 2024 Council Report
• Find out more about the CMHC Housing Accelerator Fund