Kingston, St. Catharines sign on to housing deals with feds
Two more Ontario cities have signed deals for housing funding from the federal government.
The cities of St. Catharines and Kingston became the latest to agree to terms, signing deals for $25.7 million and $27.6 million, respectively.
The City of St. Catharines will use the funding to fast track almost 700 housing units over the next three years. Additional changes under the city’s action plan are intended to spur the construction of more than 12,000 homes over the next decade.
The plan commits the city to seven initiatives that enable a variety of housing forms and densities to meet the diverse needs of the community, such as permitting four units as-of-right to encourage the creation of additional housing units on existing residential lots.
The funding will also support incentive programs promoting multi-family homes downtown and on transit corridors, and the establishment of a land enhancement office that will work with partners to create homes and mixed-use developments on city-owned sites. It will also provide infrastructure support to increase the number of residential builds and also digitize and facilitate faster development and permit approvals.
"This is a huge investment in building more homes, and especially more affordable homes, for our growing city,” said Mayor Mat Siscoe. “Together, we're creating the St. Catharines of the future – a thriving community where everyone has access to a home they can afford. This is key to making sure we remain one of the most livable cities in Canada.”
Meanwhile, the City of Kingston will use its funding to fast track nearly 900 housing units over the next three years. The measures announced under its action plan are expected to accelerate the construction of more than 4,800 homes over the next decade.
Kingston's Action Plan commits to nine initiatives that will support building a range of different types of homes and allowing various densities to meet the diverse needs of the community, such as permitting four units as-of-right to encourage the creation of additional housing units on existing residential lots.
The funding will allow for zoning by-law amendments to support infill development and encourage additional residential units. It will also support affordable tiny houses through implementation guidelines and a grant program, partnering with the private sector to integrate modular homes, making public land available for new homes, streamlining the development approval process, reducing barriers for conversion projects and increasing density near Queen's University while conserving heritage buildings in the area.
"This funding will allow the city to scale up many of our housing initiatives, helping to meet the critical need for more housing in our community,” said Mayor Bryan Paterson. “I'm grateful for this partnership with the federal government that will enable more affordable housing and infrastructure investments that will help get new housing built faster here in Kingston."
Launched in March 2023, the Housing Accelerator Fund is a $4-billion initiative from the Government of Canada that will run until 2026-27.