City cancels update on Housing Accelerator Fund, says 'discussions are ongoing' with feds

The issue of Windsor’s controversial bid for upwards of $40 million in federal housing funds has been thrust back into the spotlight.

On Thursday, Irek Kusmiercyzk, the MP for Windsor-Tecumseh, said he helped arrange a meeting between his Liberal caucus colleague Sean Fraser, the federal housing minister, and Drew Dilkens, Windsor’s mayor, in mid-December to smooth over choppy waters created in the wake of council’s Dec. 13 vote on its application to the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF).

“We’ve got to build housing and it’s not just about building housing, it’s building the right type of housing that working families can afford, that seniors can afford, that young people can afford,” said Kusmiercyzk.

According to Kusmiercyzk, the meeting was a positive development in finding a path forward.

The application to Ottawa’s $4-billion fund proved contentious following an 8-2 vote that saw council reject the federal government’s request for a zoning update to allow fourplex construction across all residentially zoned land, despite administration’s warning doing so could jeopardize federal funding with the potential to reach $70 million should certain benchmarks be met.

Currently, the province has mandated municipalities allow up to three-units as of right. Ottawa’s request would up that one unit further.

“The need is so great here in our community,” said Kusmiercyzk. “We have a housing crisis. It’s only going to get worse because of the jobs and investments that we’ve brought to this community. The pressure on the housing stock is only going to get worse.”

Dilkens was set to hold a news conference on Friday alongside members of city administration, but it was cancelled.

"Our intent was to provide an update on the City’s application to the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund," said a statement from the city on Friday. "At this time, discussions are ongoing with federal minister of housing. The City remains steadfast in a commitment to ensure any outcome respects the needs of Windsor residents."

The day following the vote, Dilkens defended the stance stressing the city isn’t against fourplex construction but wanted to see the housing form in specific areas.

“For us to wholesale say, ‘you know what, we don’t mind if a fourplex is now built next to you,’” Dilkens told reporters on Dec. 14. “I think that’s disrespectful to people in neighbourhoods throughout the city.”

The federal government has reached agreements with 16 municipalities under the HAF program, including London, Kitchener and Guelph which have adopted the zoning change.

FOURPLEX FOCUS

According to economist and housing researcher Mike Moffatt, a senior director at the Smart Prosperity Institute based in Ottawa, the federal government is pushing the four-unit housing type as a way to better densify neighbourhoods to meet housing demand.

“They see them as part of the solution in many of our neighbourhoods. That it’s a way to build what’s called ‘gentle density,’” said Moffatt.

In places like Windsor, they’re more misfit than mainstream.

“They’re relatively rare right now outside of some of the big cities [in Canada]. Traditionally, they haven’t been built that much because they haven’t been legal,” said Moffatt.

According to a recent RBC report, the housing crisis is only deepening without more homes – of whatever type – opening their doors to new tenants and homeowners.

The report points to the crisis at or near the “worst-ever” affordability levels in many markets across the country, including in Ontario where it found just 22 per cent of households have sufficient income to own a single-family home.

Without greater variety of housing types and restrictive zoning, Moffatt said the crisis will only deepen unless zoning changes are made, or private developers are bypassed in favour of public construction.

“Governments are going to have to build more housing because they’ve basically handcuffed the private market from building that type of necessary home,” said Moffatt.

A Scotiabank report last year called for a doubling of social housing to correct Canada’s “anemic” stock and help better balance supply with demand in the real estate market.