- Mark Sutcliffe is upbeat about the likelihood that the city will get millions in federal funding to construct homes.
- The focus is primarily on finalizing the agreement and determining the appropriate uses for the funds and funding obtained.
- A successful application could bring in up to $150 million, which would fund the construction of roughly 7,000 units.
Mark Sutcliffe, the mayor of Ottawa, is upbeat about the likelihood that the city will get millions in federal funding to construct homes. Regarding Ottawa’s application for the housing accelerator fund, he said his office has been in constant communication with the federal government and is now hopeful that these efforts will pay off in the coming days.
According to Sutcliffe, the focus is primarily on finalizing the agreement and determining the appropriate uses for the funds and funding obtained.
Federal housing deal
Sean Fraser, the federal minister of housing, infrastructure, and communities, has pushed cities to aim high to receive their fair share of funding. He has been pressuring them to loosen regulations that impede the construction of new residences like modifying zoning bylaws to permit up to four apartments on each lot.
The Ottawa City Council decided not to let the province’s higher height restrictions expire and instead to investigate this option through a continuing review of the zoning bylaw.
Sutcliffe stated that Ottawa is “closer to the finish line” than it was a few weeks ago and suggested that the money from the housing accelerator could provide the city with a sizable amount of funding.
According to city officials, a successful application could bring in up to $150 million, which would fund the construction of roughly 7,000 units. When the city filed its application in June, it stated that it would use the funds for a variety of initiatives, including office conversion assistance and incentives for affordable housing.
The Alliance to End Homelessness executive director, Kaite Burkholder Harris, stated that the majority of the funds are anticipated to assist nonprofit housing projects that are prepared for development but are awaiting capital funding.
According to her, permanent housing is the only long-term solution to address Ottawa’s “extremely pressing” homelessness crisis, which has reached unprecedented proportions.
