Feds to give City of Abbotsford $25.6 million to expedite building over 700 more homes in the city

ABBOTSFORD — The federal government says it will give the City of Abbotsford over $25 million to help the municipality fast track the construction of hundreds of housing units over the next three years.

According to a news release dated Monday, February 12, the Government of Canada and the city of Abbotsford have reached an agreement to expedite building 730 housing units over the next three years, a pact both parties say will facilitate the construction of more than 2,300 homes in Abbotsford over the next decade.

With federal funding and federal involvement, the feds say they are reconsidering their approach as to how cities let housing get built in their municipalities. With a greater focus on higher density housing, student housing, homes near transit and affordable housing, the federal government insists that they will see more homes built for Canadians at prices they can afford.

The agreement, under the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), will provide over $25.6 million to eliminate barriers to building more housing. Abbotsford’s Action Plan contains seven local initiatives that enable a variety of housing forms and densities to meet the diverse needs of the community. The funding will develop a program to incentivize and legalize secondary suites, support innovative initiatives that will streamline development application processes, promote affordable housing on city-owned lands, and increase density near transit and amenities by changing land designations to allow multi-unit housing along major transit corridors. It will also amend zoning to allow as-of-right redevelopment of underused sites that will allow a minimum of four units per lot.