The federal government has announced $17.5 million for the Municipality of Lakeshore and the Municipality of Chatham-Kent through the Housing Accelerator Fund.
Lakeshore will receive $7.4 million, while Chatham-Kent will receive just over $10 million from the fund.
The Housing Accelerator Fund, through Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation, provides funding to local governments to encourage and support initiatives aimed at increasing housing supply.
Municipalities receiving HAF support may utilize the funding for housing construction, land acquisition, design of additional public transit infrastructure, and construction of infrastructure for drinking water, wastewater, and waste management.
Lakeshore Mayor Tracey Bailey says they know the infrastructure challenges in Lakeshore and are working with their partners to create solutions and cut red tape.
“We have a community of communities here in Lakeshore. We can fit two of the City of Windsor in our geography. Our challenges are very unique,” she says.
Bailey says they know people in Lakeshore are not interested in converting agricultural land into housing, so we need to go up and not out.
“We know we need to find solutions for our senior population; we have an aging population here in Lakeshore. I, for a great example, need to find housing for both my parents and also my children,” she says. “The challenges are real for all of our residents and also for everyone who is moving to our wonderful region.”
Bailey says the HAF helps them lay the framework for what’s to come.
“Now we’ll be able to lay the framework that helps guide us on where and how we grow. It will help us to bring in our residents and understand how they might want to guide us and where we’re headed and what they want future Lakeshore to look like,” she says.
Lakeshore did not receive money during the opening round of applications to the Housing Accelerator Fund.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation opened a second round of applications with the requirement that municipalities implement by-laws to allow four units as-of-right, something Lakeshore voted to allow within the municipality.