Okotoks didn’t apply for a federal incentive program to build more homes, saying many of the initiatives it requires have been done or are already underway here.
The Housing Accelerator Fund is a federal government program that provides funding to municipalities to build more homes. Municipalities that apply to the program need to list initiatives they’ll pursue to grow housing supply, and they must commit to increasing their housing supply by at least 10 per cent each year.
Okotoks Mayor Tanya Thorn said the Town evaluated the fund and found that much of what it asks for were completed when the land use bylaw was changed several years ago to permit more medium- and high-density housing.
The application window for cities and towns with a population over 10,000 people closed in August. London, Ont. made headlines earlier this month when it became the first city in Canada to reach an agreement with the federal government under the fund.
The funding is meant to remove barriers and support the development of affordable, inclusive, equitable and climate-resilient communities, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
The Town replaced 34 land use districts and 33 direct control districts with nine land use districts, four of which include residential housing, leaving more freedom for developers to build a variety of housing.
Thorn said the progress already made in Okotoks would have put its application lower down on the priority list and given it fewer options to take if pursuing funding.
"We didn't feel that actually doing those was going to move the needle for the situation our own community was in,” she said.
Money from the fund can be used for housing action plans, affordable housing, and community or housing related infrastructure.
Thorn said the Town has other options it is pursuing to increase the types and supply of housing, such as ramping up advocacy efforts and advancing partnerships with developers.
“We've been doing a lot of work with developers to change the housing product that's being built, and you're starting to see that on the ground.”
As an example, she said about 500 purpose-built rental units will be constructed in the next year.
“We're seeing a very different product than we've traditionally seen in Okotoks,” the mayor said.
She said although development permits are being issued, it takes time to see results.
"You've got an 18-month to two-year lag on all of the initiatives you've got," she said. "And that's kind of the situation we're seeing."
