Despite no housing being built because of it in the last year, Guelph's mayor believes the city isn't at risk of losing out on its annual allotment of a massive federal deal signed a year ago to accelerate housing locally.
A year ago this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Guelph to announce a $21.4 million deal to help the City of Guelph accelerate home building over three years. The money from the Housing Accelerator Fund is meant to help fast track the building of 750 homes.
But in order to get the annual payments of $5.3 million, the city needs to meet specific benchmarks.
Unlike the provincial targets set, the federal benchmarks centre more around policies and approving motions that make it easier to get housing built.
A progress report is due soon with the federal government-owned Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Mayor Cam Guthrie said recent meeting with the CMHC to discuss the funding that comes along with meeting those goals went “very well.”
“Every successful community in the Housing Accelerator Fund knew that the first year of the commitment was going to be heavy lifting around the policy and process part,” he said.
Some of the money already received has gone toward creating incentives for the affordable housing strategy, as well as the project to turn the former Guelph Pottery Centre at 14 Edinburgh Rd. S. into a 12-unit demonstration affordable housing project.
In addition, Guthrie brought up the work done to allow for up to four units to be built on one property. Later this year, a report is expected to look at going one further, and permitting five units on one property.
Guthrie said by getting the zoning and planning sorted out, that’ll unlock housing units not only in the second and third year of the deal, but housing outside the deal and beyond the next couple years.
According to the city’s HAF’s action plan, the city will need 1,167 units per year between 2024 and 2026 on average.
“(By) 2027, we have to show that (the money) has actually leveraged … the outcome is that there is actually units,” Guthrie said.
As for provincial targets, it is more numbers-based with Ontario wanting to build at least 1.5 million homes by 2031.
Guelph’s 10-year housing target is 18,000, including 1,500 homes for 2024.
The city got to 849 units between January and October of last year, which is about 56 per cent of the target.
Of the 50 municipalities on the list, nine exceeded its housing target in the same time frame.
Guthrie remains optimistic, pointing out Guelph was in the top third of the communities on the list when it comes to actual housing progress.
“You can have one year where you’re under, and then another year where you’re triple the target,” he said, adding the point is to try and have as much system in the queue as possible.
He said on average, the city issues around 2,000 permits a year.
As of the end of October, the city issued 1,768 permits.
Guthrie cautioned that while the city can give a permit, “we can’t compel (builders) to then put the shovel in the ground.”
He said 2024 was “a very difficult year for housing,” but anticipates 2025 will be very busy, based on what is in the queue.
But he admits the economic climate for homebuilders is a struggle that rages on, something that isn’t within the municipality’s control.
“People aren’t buying, people aren’t building, interest rates are very uncertain for people still, there’s affordability issues.” Guthrie said.
“What we’re trying to do with the Housing Accelerator Fund money is trying to provide millions of dollars of incentives to give people – not just builders, (but) homeowners (too) – the ability to add a tiny home in their backyard, add a basement apartment, change an office unit into residential.
“These are all things that are now available to people through the Housing Accelerator Fund money that they can do.
“However, we can’t ignore the fact that the housing climate is still very difficult right now.”
