As Thunder Bay works toward housing targets, city council to consider development incentives

Now that the City of Thunder Bay has secured money through the federal government's Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), it's time for council to decide how to spend it.

City staff are presenting three reports to council next week about the HAF, with recommendations to:

Though the city applied for $45.6 million, it's been approved to access up to $20.7 million through the housing accelerator program. 

The city entered a contribution agreement with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in February, which outlines the terms and conditions of the funding, the city's approved action plan, and its growth targets.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the city at the end of February to make the announcement, which the government says will help fast-track more than 600 new units over the next three years.

It's part of Ottawa's broader plan to spur the construction of more than 6,500 homes in Thunder Bay over the next decade, a small fraction of the national 650,000-home target in that time frame. 

The city itself isn't responsible for building houses; instead, its role involves attracting developers to meet the community's needs.

The CMHC is providing the housing accelerator dollars in four equal advances, the first of which has already been paid. 

The second and third instalments are conditional on whether the city implements its approved action plan, and the fourth depends on whether the city achieves its growth target: 1,691 units by February 2027. 

Over the next three years, about 66 per cent of the fund is going toward grants, Summer Stevenson, the city's project manager for the housing accelerator, explained in an update on Wednesday. 

"This is direct incentives and different funding opportunities for not-for-profit organizations, developers, and individuals who are looking to build more units," Stevenson said.

While the city's original action plan anticipated about $27 million in grant money — which was conditional on securing the $45.6 million that was originally requested — the amount has been revised to roughly $10.6 million, instead.

"That's a fairly significant reduction. However, we are very confident that we've been able to save as much money as possible to provide direct incentives," Stevenson said.

"We're still looking at a total allocation that's very, very similar per incentive unit."