These nine initiatives are funded by the HAF:
- Zoning Bylaw Update: Working to end exclusionary zoning by updating the City’s Zoning Bylaw and enabling more housing options.
- Multi-plex Housing: Enabling more multi-plex housing in lower density residential areas.
- Prezoning: Prezoning helps to speed up development by enabling development projects that are consistent with the Official Community Plan to proceed without having to go through a rezoning process. The work will include prezoning areas close to the City of North Vancouver urban core and to public transit.
- Parking Review: Reviewing parking requirements for affordable housing and undertaking a review of general parking standards to support increased project viability and reduce carbon footprint.
- Development Approvals Process Review: Streamlining the development approvals process to provide clarity, consistency, predictability, and stability for applicants, staff, and the public. This will include prioritizing affordable and rental housing projects and increasing process efficiency by leveraging technological tools (such as e-permitting and electronic application submission and review) to achieve faster processing. In addition, the City will be reviewing our financing growth tools (such as Development Cost Charges) to provide amenities that support growth.
- Alternative Housing Construction: Supporting and enabling alternative housing construction to encourage pre-fabricated construction options and new construction technologies (ex. mass timber), further streamlining the construction process and reducing community impacts (ex. noise).
- Inclusionary Housing Policy: Developing inclusionary housing policy to support the creation of affordable housing that meets our housing needs. Inclusionary policies create dedicated affordable housing units by requiring or encouraging developers to include a specified share of below-market units as part of market rental or homeowner developments.
- Mid Market Rental Policy Update: Enabling the delivery of more affordable rental housing by updating the Mid Market Rental (MMR) Policy.
- Affordable Housing Reserve Fund Review: Providing grants to better support affordable housing providers and encourage more housing types that align with the City’s housing needs as well as updating the City’s land acquisition and disposition practices to support the creation of more affordable housing on municipally owned lands.
What is the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF)?
The Government of Canada announced details about the new Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) in March 2023. The $4 billion HAF fund is meant to support local governments to build more homes faster and increase their housing supply. The Fund is intended to help build 100,000 new homes in Canada by September 2026.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) administers the HAF, which provides incentive funding for local governments aimed at increasing the supply of housing. It supports the development of complete, low-carbon and climate-resilient communities that are affordable, inclusive, equitable and diverse.
How Does The Money Get Used?
Local governments are expected to spend the funding received in four areas: implementing the initiatives, supporting delivery of affordable housing, building infrastructure to support housing, or developing community related infrastructure to support housing (amenities). To achieve these goals, the City developed nine initiatives to support the building of more homes faster.
What are the projected outcomes?
The funding will help the City build more homes faster – 530 homes in addition to its baseline projection of 1,350 homes, projected over the 3 year time period.