Ottawa receives $176 million in federal funding for housing

The city of Ottawa will receive $176 million in new federal funding to help build much needed housing in the capital over the next 10 years.

The city of Ottawa will receive $176 million in new federal funding to help build much-needed housing in the capital over the next 10 years, 

Federal ministers joined Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and councillors to announce the $176 million under the federal Housing Accelerator Fund, with the deal committing the city to allow fourplexes on lots as part of the Zoning Bylaw review.

Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Jenna Sudds told reporters the funding will help fast-track 4,400 new housing units over the next three years, and the work will help spur the construction of 32,600 homes over the next 10 years.

Under the Housing Accelerator Fund, the government says the funding will help "eliminate barriers to building the housing we need, faster." The federal announcement says the funding will allow for more housing options in Ottawa, including more rental, affordable and missing middle-housing, with up to four units as-of-right through the comprehensive Bylaw Review process.

"It might be -10, but to me it feels like plus 176.3 million right now," Sutcliffe joked during a media conference Monday morning. "This announcement is a down payment, a huge down payment. It's a down payment on building more affordable housing in our community, it's a down payment on building more homes throughout the city, it's a down payment on getting things built faster."

Sutcliffe concedes the new funding, "won't solve the housing crisis on its own."