The City of Port Coquitlam will get $10.3 million from the federal government to speed up home building in the fast-growing municipality.
Today, Feb. 18, Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam MP Ron McKinnon announced the money for Port Coquitlam, which comes a year after the City of Coquitlam received $25 million from the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) program and five months after PoCo Mayor Brad West, along with the mayors of Maple Ridge and Langley Township, openly criticized the senior government for bypassing their cities.
At Tuesday’s press conference in front of PoCo City Hall, West made a point of thanking McKinnon for working with civic staff to get the HAF cash that will be used to help accelerate 287 new homes — many of them affordable.
“We are not just building housing units, we are building a community,” said McKinnon, who told the Tri-City News the city now has 25 per cent of the money with the remainder to be doled out “over the next several years.”
The Liberal MP said the city and federal government have a contract for the funding that will be in place “no matter who is in government.”
(Last October, Sean Fraser, the federal minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, sent a letter to Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart warning about the possible loss of its HAF funding as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has indicated he would cut the program if his party formed government).
McKinnon said the HAF money is aimed at getting more shovels in the ground, and quicker, as Canada struggles with an affordable housing crisis.
Specifically, the money will be used to help update the development policies that B.C. Premier David Eby and the provincial government implemented in November 2023 as part of the Homes for People Housing Action Plan.
Like Port Moody and other B.C. municipalities, Port Coquitlam has been given a housing target by the province to increase its housing stock; PoCo’s order is a five-year goal to have 2,279 new homes up by July 31, 2029.
At this afternoon's committee meeting at PoCo City Hall, council is expected to review the six-month progress report, from Aug. 1, 2024, to Jan. 31, 2025, that will be sent to B.C.’s Housing Ministry, as per the Housing Supply Act.
The net increase has been “modest,” wrote Bruce Irvine, PoCo’s director of development, in his Feb. 18 report to committee in council.
“There is a substantial number of units anticipated to be approved, constructed and/or delivered in the coming year,” the report reads. “In addition, during this initial period, the city has initiated or completed a number of actions that are intended to help increase the supply of new housing units in the community.”
Here’s the city's annual breakdown to meet its housing target:
- Year 1: 343
- Year 2: 724
- Year 3: 1,161
- Year 4: 1,673
- Year 5: 2,279
McKinnon said the aim of the HAF is to fund initiatives that will cut the red tape around home building like allowing parking reductions, pre-approved designs and pre-zoning areas with potential for more residential density. This includes locations around public transit stations and post-secondary institutions.
By 2028, the federal government hopes its $4.4-billion HAF will fast-track 112,000 new homes across the country to meet demand.
Video produced by Alanna Kelly
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