Halifax council to consider Ottawa's tweaks for housing money

Halifax regional council will consider tweaks made by Ottawa to increase housing density in the municipality.

On Thursday, Housing Minister Sean Fraser wrote a letter to Mayor Mike Savage that included four suggestions regarding the city's application for the Housing Accelerator Fund — which allocates $4 billion in funding until 2026-27 to prompt more home building in cities. The municipality had applied for the funding in June.

 Fraser's suggestions included:

• Legalizing properties with up to four units city wide.
• Legalizing dwellings up to four storeys high for all residential areas in the municipality's Centre Plan.
• Creating a non-market affordable housing strategy with staff dedicated to it.
• Increasing density and student rentals within walking distance of the city's first-rate post-secondary institutions.

Fraser's letter praised Halifax for what it has done so far to address its housing crisis, especially in the midst of wildfires and severe weather. But he said he wouldn't approve Halifax's application unless it considers making these "improvements."

"There's nothing here that is terribly shocking, I don't think," Mayor Mike Savage told CBC News on Thursday, adding other cities like Calgary and London, Ont., were also asked to make similar changes.

'Whatever we can, do we will do,' mayor says

Savage said Halifax has been doing everything it can for years to get more housing built in the city. He said there are "tens of thousands of units" that have been approved.

"We can't lower the interest rate and we can't just snap our fingers and have skilled trades people appear in the marketplace," he said. "We can't do much on the supply chain for key materials that are needed to build housing. But whatever we can do, we will do."

Savage said the municipality doesn't have any responsibility to build housing, but "we certainly will support it and we already have through our density bonusing."

He added the city does support some not-for-profit organizations who are building not-for-profit housing.

The mayor said the municipality is also supportive of housing for universities and colleges in Nova Scotia.

Savage said he expects regional council will consider Fraser's changes before the end of the year.