Trudeau announces $74M to help London, Ont., build 2,000 new homes

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that London, Ont., is the first city in Canada to reach a deal with his government under the Housing Accelerator Fund.

He says the deal will create 2,000 new homes in the city over three years. 

"This landmark agreement with London will be the first of many, and we look forward to working with all orders of government to help everyone find a place to call their own," Trudeau said in a statement. 

London Mayor Josh Morgan said he wants the city's agreement to set an example for the rest of the country when it comes to building housing units.

"This is the most significant housing and housing-related infrastructure investment in London's history," said Morgan, thanking his staff and council for their work on the deal. 

Morgan added that on top of the 2,000 homes the fund will help build over the coming three years, it will also help facilitate the construction of thousands of additional housing units "in the years to come."

The Housing Accelerator Fund, first announced during the 2021 election campaign, and introduced in the 2022 federal budget, allocates $4 billion in funding until 2026-27 to prompt more homebuilding in cities. 

The agreement with London will see the city get $74 million in funding, allowing it to approve high-density developments without the need for rezoning, a statement from the prime minister's office said.  

The statement said the money will help the city:

The Liberal government says the Housing Accelerator Fund's objective is to build 100,000 more housing units across the country than what would have been built without the fund by streamlining land-use planning and development approvals. 

Municipal governments with a population of more than 10,000 apply to take part by pitching initiatives that will increase the annual rate of home building in their cities by at least 10 per cent. 

The PMO statement says the fund encourages cities to build high density apartments around public transit to help seniors, students and families. 

After announcing the deal Trudeau issued a challenge "to mayors right across the country to step up with their proposals to so we can get building more homes, increasing supply and lowering the prices for families," he said. 

Trudeau and his government have faced increasing pressure in recent months to deliver a response to the ongoing shortage of housing across the country. That pressure increased late last month after the Liberal cabinet retreat in New Brunswick ended without the announcement of new measures to tackle the crisis.