Resources for Housing Accelerator Fund Applicants

10 Housing Accelerator Fund best practices: proven strategies to boost supply and affordability

Here are the 10 best practices from successful Housing Accelerator Fund applications. Consider them as your roadmap, specifically designed for municipalities aiming to enhance their affordable housing plans.

The Housing Accelerator Fund is a highly competitive program which has attracted considerable interest across Canada. The Housing Accelerator Fund was created to incentivize local governments to implement the structural and lasting reforms that will increase the supply of housing.

As we continue reviewing applications and engaging with municipalities, we may need more details from some program applicants.

If we reach out to you to ask for more details, consider incorporating these best practices into your application to boost your chances of success.

We invite all municipalities to explore these proven strategies and integrate them into their own plans to bolster housing supply and affordability. 

10 Housing Accelerator Fund best practices

1. End exclusionary zoning
   • Stop low-density zoning and regulation that excludes housing types such as affordable and social housing in residential areas.
   • Encourage high density by allowing mixed-use development and high-density residential as-of-right within proximity to urban cores and transit corridors.
   • This includes adopting by-laws to adopt more as-of-right zoning measures, from the number of units to storeys.
2. Make municipally owned lands available for housing through strategies such as disposition, acquisition and/or pre-development.
3. Increase process efficiency by implementing new technologies or software to speed up development approvals, such as e-permitting.
4. Prioritized/enhanced development approval process for rental and affordable housing.
5. Comprehensive review of development charges and fee schedules including waivers, with a focus on permits associated with affordable housing.
6. Reduce or eliminate parking standards to increase project viability, density and reduce carbon footprint.
7. Eliminate restrictions related to height, setbacks, building floor area and others to allow a greater variety in housing types, including accessory dwelling units.
8. Develop affordable housing community improvement plans or strategies/plans for the rapid deployment of affordable housing.
9. Design and implement guidelines or pre-approved building plans for missing middle housing or specific accessory dwelling unit types such as laneway housing or garden suites.
10. Develop grant programs encouraging the development of housing types that align with the Housing Accelerator Fund such as missing middle, row homes, purpose-built rental and/or that promote new/innovative construction techniques (modular, pre-fab, mass timber construction, etc.).

Letters from Minister Fraser to successful applicants

Here, you'll find letters from the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities to municipalities that have been approved for Housing Accelerator Funding. These letters can provide you with more insights into the implementation and impact of these municipalities’ housing initiatives.  

As more municipalities across the country are approved through the program, we’ll update this space. Sign up for updates and stay informed on all the exciting initiatives that aim to boost housing supply and affordability across the country.  

• Letter to the City of London (PDF)
• News release: Removing barriers to build more homes, faster in London, Ontario

• Letter to Halifax Regional Municipality (PDF)
• News release: Helping build more homes, faster in Halifax