• The Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville has been awarded $8,009,665 through the Government of Canada’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) program.
  • The amount includes more than $4.5 million in additional support beyond costs related to Stouffville’s updated Housing Action Plan.
  • That plan was foundational to the Town’s HAF application and represents approximately $2.35 million in initiatives and studies aimed at expediting housing approvals and delivery.
  • Stouffville’s HAF funding will be delivered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) over the next four years, with $2 million already provided.
  • The future of HAF remains uncertain, however, as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has pledged to end the program if his party forms government following this year’s election.

 

Markham-Stouffville MP Dr. Helena Jaczek and Stouffville Mayor Iain Lovatt held an event on Jan. 28 to announce more than $8 million in HAF support for the municipality. The funding is being provided through the program’s second stream after Stouffville’s initial bid was unsuccessful.

“The funding we’re announcing is built on a simple idea: helping municipalities change how homes are permitted in their communities,” Jaczek said in her opening remarks. “Changes that will remove barriers that slow housing down.”

The Town has already received $2 million to begin this work. As it progresses with its Housing Action Plan, proof of delivery and successes must be presented to CMHC before further payments are issued.

The remaining $6 million is earmarked for similar initiatives formulated by Town Staff, approved by Council, and in consultation with CMHC.

HAF funding is expected to directly catalyze the construction of 225 new homes in Stouffville over the next three years, a slight reduction from the Town’s earlier assumption of 345 units. Over the next decade, it is hoped HAF will facilitate the delivery of 1,240 additional homes beyond previous forecasts.

“Through the fund, federal and municipal governments are working together toward our shared goal of fast-tracking the creation of at least 112,000 housing units from coast to coast to coast over the next three years,” Jaczek said. “Cities and regions across the country estimate this will lead to the creation of almost 750,000 permitted housing units over the next 10 years.”

The Town has outlined seven Housing Accelerator Fund initiatives through its Housing Action Plan. These include implementing inclusionary zoning near GO stations to ensure more affordable housing options and creating an Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan to identify financial incentives that encourage the faster development of affordable and market-rate units.

A parking study will explore reducing minimum parking requirements for medium- and high-density developments to better utilize land and promote housing affordability near transit. Additionally, a missing middle housing study will assess how the Town can introduce gentle intensification, such as multiplexes and low-rise apartments, in existing neighbourhoods.

A Servicing Allocation Study will focus on ensuring the timely execution of approved developments by assessing existing servicing capacity allocation processes and creating a revocation by-law. If an approved development does not proceed in a timely manner, the by-law would allow the Town to retract infrastructure servicing commitments and allocate them to other projects.

The plan also includes new internal planning tools. A streamlined site plan approval process will facilitate more efficient approvals for affordable and purpose-built rental housing projects. Additionally, new growth management reporting and tracking software will provide “real-time insights for data collection to assist with recommendations and decision-making on how the Town will grow,” Stouffville’s HAF website states.

According to the updated Housing Action Plan document approved by Council in October 2024, the seven initiatives are expected to cost approximately $2.35 million. In a further commitment noted in the related Staff report, the Town included them within Stouffville’s 2025-2027 capital budget, intending to proceed even without HAF funding.

With the first HAF advance already received, most of those costs have been removed from the municipality’s books.

Demand for the first round of HAF funding exceeded the program’s $4 billion budget. While 179 municipalities secured funding, 365 applications were declined. Since missing out last year, Mayor Lovatt has been focused on ensuring Stouffville would be successful through the second stream.

“It’s a gross understatement to say Mayor Lovatt has been determined in his pursuit of this funding to help provide Stouffville with more housing,” Jaczek said. “Every time former Minister of Housing Sean Fraser saw me in the lobby or the House of Commons, he’d say, ‘Yes, I know, Whitchurch-Stouffville!’… So [his] persistence has really paid off.”

“ I was disappointed when we didn’t get funding in phase one, but to see funding come [now] is great news for our community,” Lovatt said, thanking Jaczek and commending her advocacy. “ This is a monumental investment in our community from the federal government and we are very, very grateful.”

The Town of Georgina was the only other HAF recipient among York Region’s Northern Six municipalities. It will receive $5,843,400, fast-tracking 210 new homes over the next three years with 1,200 forecasted units over the next decade.

Should his party form a new government following this year’s election, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed to end the HAF program entirely—a topic he discussed in a December interview with Dougall Media. He plans to redirect the program’s budget toward GST tax cuts for new homes valued under $1 million.

“We have horrendous local bureaucracies that are blocking home building,” Poilievre told Dougall Media reporters. “I will take the money away from the bureaucrats and the politicians that caused the problem, and they’re all going to squeal… but I’m going to use that money to cut the GST by $50,000 per home.”

“The more money you give municipal governments, the less homes are going to be built. What they spend it on, no matter what they tell you and how they spin you, is bureaucrats that block home building with ultra slow permitting and with brutal red tape,” Poilievre added.

“So don’t believe local politicians and bureaucrats, because they’re the ones who caused this problem. We need to cut them off and put that money in the hands of home builders and home buyers so they can actually build the homes,” he said.

According to Dwayne Tapp, Stouffville’s Commissioner of Development Services, the Town had 2,418 draft plan-approved units in its development pipeline as of September 2024. Those projects were not stalled due to municipal bureaucracy but because applicants had yet to apply for their final building permits.

“I believe we are one of the most efficient development approval commissions in the GTA,” Tapp said. “Staff take pride in presenting development applications at Public Planning Meetings as soon as possible in order to get adequate public feedback prior to presenting a recommendation report to Council.”

Poilievre’s office did not respond to inquiries from Bullet Point News about whether a Conservative government would target existing HAF agreements. However, Sofia Ouslis, press secretary for Canada’s Minister of Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities, stated that all HAF agreements are legally binding between the communities that signed them and the Government of Canada.

“The funds that were committed in each Housing Accelerator Fund agreement are provided in instalments,” Ouslis noted. “So long as the communities meet their obligations, they will receive the agreed-upon funding.”

Lovatt hopes to direct future HAF advances toward housing and supportive infrastructure in Stouffville’s two Major Transit Station Areas. They surround the Stouffville GO and Old Elm GO stations and are expected to see significant intensification.

“HAF is not a silver bullet program to accelerate housing or make housing more affordable,” Lovatt said in later comments to Bullet Point News. “But my commitment to Stouffville is that our Council and Staff will work diligently to ensure the funds we have received will have an on-the-ground impact as soon as possible.”

“I think the CPC’s threat to shut down future HAF programs and redistribute the funds in other ways to bring costs down for the end home-purchaser has merit and shouldn’t surprise anyone,” Lovatt added. “A new government will have their own way of approaching the housing crisis.”