Roughly $129 million in federal housing cash is paused until Calgary clarifies the future of its citywide rezoning bylaw, according to an internal email obtained by LWC.

The email, sent by Chief Operating Officer Stuart Dalgleish, said they’d received the news during an administration meeting with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), who is responsible for administering the federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF).

“During this meeting, CMHC advised that $129 million in future installment of HAF funding are paused pending further clarity on the status of citywide rezoning,” the email read.

“Should this issue not be clarified by 2026 March 31, the ~$64 million third installment would be relinquished. CMHC advised there is some discussion room.”

LWC has reached out to CMHC for confirmation of this new development and for any comment on the discussion around citywide rezoning. They responded late Tuesday afternoon.

“We are aware of Calgary’s proposal and are reviewing the details. We expect municipalities to fulfill their agreements. If a partner’s agreed-upon commitments aren’t met or are reversed, this puts their HAF funding at risk,” read an email response from CMHC’s Leonard Caitling.

Caitling linked to Calgary’s HAF Agreement and Action Plan Summary. Below is one of the initiatives included in the agreement.

The financial impact of a repeal of Calgary’s controversial citywide rezoning has been a topic of much debate, with it mired in the word weeds and nuance of financial considerations on planning matters.

While city administration said they’ve always indicated that there was risk to federal funding if citywide rezoning wasn’t approved, local politicians were careful to reiterate that the two items were not inextricably linked.

The City of Calgary had rezoning as one of the recommendations from the Housing and Affordability Task Force roughly six months before former Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Sean Fraser sent a letter to Calgary city council indicating that a rezoning decision could hold up a decision on applications.

Coun. Dan McLean posted to X (formerly Twitter) that the federal government was threatening to pull millions in funding should rezoning be repealed.

“Were we Misled on Blanket Rezoning?” McLean posted.

Strong advocacy from the City of Calgary

Outside council chambers, Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that what they’ve seen and heard to this point from city administration is that they didn’t recommend any type of contingency funding set aside for the purposes of the budget in case federal funding wasn’t available.

“Certainly, in my conversations with the Prime Minister, and as recently as less than two weeks ago, in person here at city hall, with the federal finance minister, put forward strong advocacy to the federal government to say, look, the funding really should be tied to outcomes,” Mayor Farkas said.  

“The funding from the federal government should be based on whether the housing gets built, especially if it’s housing that’s an affordable price point, agnostic of how we choose to get there.”

Mayor Farkas said that they’ve had good conversations with their federal counterparts, and that the sides are aligned on getting housing built.

“So, conversations are still ongoing as far as the ultimate outcome of these Housing Accelerator Funds, but certainly myself and other big city mayors from coast to coast to coast will be strongly advocating for the money to be tied to results,” Farkas said.

“It really should be about building the needed housing, rather than being so tied to a specific approach like blanket rezoning.”

In Dalgleish’s email, it said given that it’s budget deliberations, they are reviewing “implications, risk and mitigation strategies, including our previous recommendation of no contingency provision being required related to HAF funding.”

“Our goal is to preserve funding and continue to address the need for more housing for Calgarians,” Dalgleish wrote.