Fast-tracked housing fund will help Saint John build more than 1,100 new units, official says

A pot of money worth $9.2 million will help Saint John build hundreds of urgently needed new housing units over the next two years, a city official says. 

Carrie Smith, project manager of the city's housing accelerator project, said the funding is linked to plans for 1,158 new units by the end of 2026. 

"We're all just elated and we're looking forward to doing more good work around housing in the city," Smith told Information Morning Saint John. 

Smith also said that half of what is being developed will be affordable housing, well above the 101 units earmarked in the city's action plan for the fund. 

In an interview, Smith said Saint John is trying to improve on a tight vacancy rate that hovers around two per cent. 

"I think we have a pretty big gap," Smith said, adding that demand for housing continues to grow each year. 

"Our growth is projected to be about two per cent. So we're not making any progress if we can't get more units built, and we need places for people to live if they want to work and grow the city." 

Administered by CMHC, or the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., the Housing Accelerator Fund aims to fast-track housing work across the country to address high costs, low inventories and poor access. 

Smith said access to the program has already led to results. 

"The grant programs that we've launched as part of this have really revitalized some stalled housing projects, and a number of projects that have been kind of in the wings are now looking to move forward within the next year or so," Smith said. 

In a statement, CMHC said the program will "help cut red tape" and help add at least 112,000 new homes across Canada by 2028. 

The fund's action plan states that homes being constructed are a combination of single-unit houses and multi-unit buildings.