Across Canada, municipalities are changing how housing gets approved, financed and built. Two years in, the Housing Accelerator Fund is showing results, helping communities move faster, and deliver more housing.
The program isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. It gives each community the flexibility to develop housing solutions that fit its own needs — from modernizing approvals to unlocking land and enabling new housing types. A large city and a small town face different barriers, and the program helps each community tackle its own priorities.
This is why results look different across communities. What links them is lasting change: stronger local systems that support housing delivery over the long term.
Participating municipalities highlight 4 key areas where the Housing Accelerator Fund is making the most difference.
Four Way the Fund is Making a Difference
- Improving approval processes and municipal technology
- Putting public land to work
- Reforming zoning and policy
- Using financial tools to bring down building costs
The reforms differ by municipality, but together they show how coordinated action is helping more homes get built.
1. Process improvement and municipal technology
When approvals are slow, costs go up, and that can determine whether homes get built. Delays add to housing costs and can stall projects before they begin. Across Canada, municipalities are speeding up approvals and using digital tools to make development faster, clearer and more predictable.
Slow, unpredictable approvals have long held back new housing. The Housing Accelerator Fund is helping municipalities modernize approvals with better processes and digital tools, so builders can plan with confidence and homes get built faster.
So far, the Fund has supported about 100 technology projects across the country. These projects are changing how applications are submitted, reviewed and approved.
The shift is already visible in several cities:
- In Burnaby, British Columbia, permitting timelines have been cut in half.
- In Vancouver, British Columbia, regulatory requirements dropped from about 1,000 to 400. This cuts complexity and helps builders move projects forward.
Some municipalities are using advanced technology to speed up reviews. Burlington, Ontario, launched a platform powered by artificial intelligence. It checks development applications for zoning and building code compliance. This improves the quality of submissions, speeds up approvals and helps construction start sooner.
Smaller and rural communities are also seeing meaningful changes. Humboldt, Saskatchewan, and Ritchot, Manitoba, introduced electronic permitting systems. Local staff call these the most important upgrades in decades. In Amherst, Nova Scotia, approvals now rely less on individual staff. This makes the process more consistent and resilient.
New tools and roles support these efforts. Kelowna, British Columbia, built an integrated housing dashboard. Winnipeg, Manitoba, created concierge-style housing planner positions to guide applicants. Richmond, British Columbia, even set up a dedicated Housing Department.
Together, these changes support a "whole-of-city" approach. Processes are faster, clearer and easier to use.
Why it matters: Predictable approvals do more than save time. When builders know what to expect, they can plan with confidence and commit to more projects. The faster a project gets built, the less it costs, which helps make housing more affordable.
2. Public land as a catalyst for housing
Land is a major cost in most housing projects and a key ingredient in getting homes built. When communities use land they already own, that land can help make projects possible at scale. It can also be used as equity to help finance construction, giving housing projects a major head start.
When municipalities put public land to work, they can lower that cost and unlock new homes that meet local needs. Public land is often well situated in service-rich areas, close to transit, jobs, schools and other amenities. It doesn't just reduce costs. It also places housing in some of the most connected, desirable locations.
Edmonton, Alberta is a leading example. Its surplus land initiative is enabling about 1,300 housing units by turning underused public property into space for new homes.
Smaller communities are making similar progress. Bowen Island, British Columbia is delivering units in partnership with a non-profit provider, proving that even small municipalities can meet their housing goals. Westville, Nova Scotia and St. Thomas, Ontario are converting former schools into housing, showing how underused buildings can be repurposed to meet local needs.
These projects highlight a broader shift. Municipalities are moving beyond their traditional role as regulators to become active partners in housing delivery. By combining public land with funding and partnerships, the Housing Accelerator Fund is helping unlock homes that might not otherwise be built.
Why it matters: Public land can be a powerful tool for expanding housing supply. When municipalities use it strategically, they have more say in what gets built and where, helping put the right homes in the right locations.
3. Policy and zoning reform
Zoning rules decide what can be built and where. When those rules are too restrictive, they create barriers and can prevent needed housing from being built.
The Housing Accelerator Fund is helping municipalities reform zoning to allow a wider range of housing types. It opens the door to Missing Middle housing like townhomes, duplexes and low-rise apartments, giving first-time homebuyers, renters and seniors more options.
Restrictive zoning has long limited housing options, making it harder for first-time homebuyers, renters, seniors and others to find a place in the community. The Housing Accelerator Fund is helping municipalities reform these zoning rules, giving builders the clarity to build more housing where communities need it.
Victoria, British Columbia shows how powerful this can be. The city simplified its zoning from dozens of categories down to just four. This change cuts complexity and gives builders far more clarity about what they can do.
Other communities are taking equally bold steps to ease rules that often slow development:
- In Banff, Alberta, reforms such as removing parking requirements led to a 1,000% increase in permitted housing units.
- In North Grenville, Ontario, allowing up to 6 units on a residential lot is helping turn a small town into a growing housing hub.
Across Canada, municipalities like Halifax, Nova Scotia and Burnaby, British Columbia are seeing strong uptake in Missing Middle housing, such as 4-plexes, after changing their zoning rules. Missing Middle housing fills the gap between single homes and large apartment buildings. These reforms are about more than density. They give builders clarity and certainty, support more diverse and livable neighbourhoods and make better use of land and infrastructure.
The Fund is also supporting First Nations as they advance housing-enabling policies and processes. Lytton First Nation, British Columbia has streamlined its processes to support renovations and critical infrastructure upgrades. This work is helping speed up housing development and community recovery.
Why it matters: When communities simplify their zoning rules to allow for more housing types, they make it easier and faster to build homes that meet the needs of everyone in the community.
4. Financial tools to reduce construction costs
The cost to build is one of the biggest hurdles in housing. Fees, infrastructure and financing gaps can stall a project before it starts. The Housing Accelerator Fund is helping municipalities use financial tools that make these projects work.
Building costs come from many sources at once. The Housing Accelerator Fund is helping municipalities use financial tools that ease key pressures and move stalled projects forward.
Edmonton, Alberta shows how this can work. Its infrastructure fund is enabling about 4,400 housing units by lowering the upfront cost of servicing land.
Other communities are using grants and incentives to move projects forward. In many cases, even modest per-unit incentives have proven enough to get a project going quickly:
- In Riverview, New Brunswick, targeted incentives supported 81 units across 10 projects, including affordable and family-oriented housing.
- In Winnipeg, Manitoba, grant programs have supported about 1,300 accessory dwelling units. These are smaller homes, such as basement or laneway suites, built on the same lot as the main home.
- In London, Ontario, upfront grants help solve cash-flow barriers. This support helps smaller builders and homeowners get projects off the ground.
The Fund is also helping improve housing in Indigenous communities through partnership-based projects. Treaty One Nation supported the first apartment building on the Naawi-Oodena urban reserve through a funding contribution. This shows how targeted financial support can advance community-led housing.
Together, these examples point to a broader lesson. Construction costs come from many sources at once. By easing key pressure points with targeted local incentives, municipalities can unlock projects and shape solutions that fit their own needs.
Why it matters: When municipalities ease costs at the right moment, they can move a project from stalled to started and make more homes possible.
Real results and long-term change through local housing reforms
Across Canada, the Housing Accelerator Fund is helping communities move faster, test new ideas and build trust in reforms that are starting to show real results. Municipal partners point to the impacts they can see right away: quicker timelines, simpler processes and stronger teamwork across departments.
Communities are now focused on building on what works, keeping the right capacity in place and turning progress into lasting housing results.
One key lesson is emerging: lasting change depends on policy reform, better processes, financial innovation and local leadership working together.
Visit the Housing Accelerator Fund Progress Reporting page for data on municipal targets, achievements and overall progress.
Read Action Plan summaries to learn more about funded initiatives and stay up to date on program developments.
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