Calgary and area home builders have set construction records over the last 18 months, due to large interprovincial migration numbers from Ontario and BC. The increased construction and migration have seen some big cheques from the federal government cashed by the City of Calgary. In November 2023, the city signed a four-year Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) agreement with the feds, through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), which tied the city to approving a minimum of 41,858 new multi-family home permits, increased to 42,276 last March, by October 2026. On Wednesday, the city announced in a press release it had gone beyond its HAF target more than a year ahead of schedule. “Surpassing the overall growth target set in our HAF agreement is a major step forward in addressing Calgary’s housing supply gap,” reads the release. “This is a top priority for the city as Calgary continues to experience rapid growth and Calgarians continue to feel the crunch of housing affordability challenges.” According to the release, in 20 months, builders started 44,276 units, 104% of the revised goal, that are expected to be homes for more than 100,000 Calgarians. .“Calgary has shown that when we receive funding from the federal or provincial governments, we act fast. We don’t wait, we deliver,” said Mayor Jyoti Gondek. “Thanks to our federal partners and the collaboration of our development industry, we’ve turned this investment into real results. These new homes are helping Calgarians today, not years from now.” The HAF agreement has several clauses, including no financial incentives for new single-family homes, a prime motivation for the city implementing the blanket upzoning bylaw last year. “By implementing the seven initiatives outlined in Calgary’s initial HAF Action Plan, the city has now surpassed the ambitious growth targets for multi-unit homes near transit and multi-unit homes city-wide, in addition to the overall growth target,” reads the release. “The city is also on track to meet growth targets for missing middle and non-market units.” “This is the exact kind of progress the federal government envisioned when it launched the Housing Accelerator Fund”, says Corey Hogan, parliamentary secretary to the minister of energy and natural resources and member of parliament for Calgary Confederation. “This momentous success proves that by forging strong partnerships between governments and encouraging bold local leadership like that shown by Calgary, we can build the next generation of affordable housing that Canadians deserve.” .The city’s original HAF agreement was for $228 million, to incentivize increasing housing in the city. In March, the city received a $22.8 million bonus from CMHC “to further accelerate housing progress for the remaining time of the program,” reads the release. According to the city, the bonus money will be spent on the Backyard Suites and Accessory Dwellings Program, and the Downtown Complete Community Housing Program. The latter was announced in May and includes funding non-market office-to-residential conversions, and establishing a modular and prefabricated housing program, which will be developed and launched in the coming months. The city forecasts to see 1,900 homes downtown, including 520 non-market homes, and 200 backyard suites throughout the city. “The city is moving with urgency in actioning these new initiatives and programs,” said Reid Hendry, Calgary’s chief housing officer. “As soon as the additional funding was confirmed, we didn’t hesitate to get to work and allocating the dollars to programs that we believe will address housing supply, choice and affordability across our city for Calgarians. This is how Calgary continues to be Canada’s housing engine.” Details of the HAF agreement with the city are here.
