The City of Cambridge failed to make the cut of 27 communities across Canada eligible for nearly $74 million in additional federal funding to help accelerate housing construction.
The new funding bump to the federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) program was announced Saturday, prior Sunday's election call.
The list of top-performing communities in the program include Kitchener and Waterloo, which will receive $4.2 million and $1.3 million respectively to fast track new home construction.
To be considered a top performer, communities met their unit forecasts and delivered on their HAF Action Plan commitments for the first year.
They also proposed additional initiatives to accelerate housing, making them eligible to receive up to 10 per cent of the value of their original agreement in additional funding, said a news release.
The HAF goal is to end restrictive zoning, speed up permitting, and add greater density, especially near transit and post-secondary institutions.
The federal funding program aims to fast-track at least 112,000 new homes by 2028, which cities and regions estimate will lead to the creation of over 750,000 new homes for people in towns, cities, and Indigenous communities across Canada over the next decade.
The City of Cambridge is working through its HAF action plan in order to access $13.3 million from the program with a projected net new permitted housing unit target of 2,972 homes over the program's first three years.
Those targets include getting 50 multi-unit housing units built in close proximity to rapid transit, 1,845 missing middle housing units, 591 other multi-unit housing units and 159 affordable units.
Municipal governments are "encouraged to think big and be bold in their approaches, which could include accelerating project timelines, allowing increased housing density, and encouraging affordable housing units."
Our government is committed to removing barriers and cutting red tape to enable housing development, and this additional funding will help leading communities do just that,
said federal Housing Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith in Saturday's press release about the additional funding.
Launched in March 2023, the Housing Accelerator Fund is a $4.4 billion initiative from the Government of Canada that will run until 2027 – 2028.
The first round of funding totalled $4 billion, and Budget 2024 added an additional $400 million to this program.
