Housing Accelerator Fund

Municipalities have been aggressively urging the federal government to commit more dollars toward infrastructure, noting their communities cannot significantly ramp up homebuilding to match population growth without things like water supply and roads. 

The Liberal government has finalized all of its deals with municipalities under the housing accelerator fund, a program it says has triggered Canada's biggest-ever movement to increase residential density.

Scott Pearce, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, was speaking at a news conference in Ottawa ahead of the spring budget to call on the federal government for more infrastructure money.

Ottawa will give Toronto almost $500 million through the federal Housing Accelerator Fund in an effort to help meet housing demand in the city.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will table the fall fiscal update on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, which is expected to focus on housing and affordability as the Liberal government struggles to regain favour with Canadians feeling overwhelmed and angry about the rising cost of living.

The federal and provincial governments will each invest $900 million over the next four years to accelerate housing construction in Quebec, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier François Legault confirmed on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023.

The mayor of Halifax, which recently secured a deal with Ottawa to fast-track the building of thousands of new homes, says he was caught off guard by recent complaints from premiers over being left out of funding agreements between the federal government and cities.

From local zoning to community consultations, there are plenty of ways cities are hitting the brakes on residential construction, even as Canada faces a significant housing shortage.

The International Monetary Fund warns that Canada's green subsidies could stoke an international race to the bottom, even as it credits the country for a "multipronged" approach to addressing climate change.

Measures in the recently tabled federal budget will help Canadians weather higher interest rates, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday, April 13, 2022, as he acknowledged there are no easy solutions to the country's housing affordability crisis.