Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas cleared the air on the status of federal housing funding, as it pertains to city council’s direction on the citywide rezoning issue.
Though the feds’ interpretation of recent conversations wasn’t exactly the same. It appears the City of Calgary is in the same holding pattern it was in before.
Farkas updated councillors as they were set to begin debate on Dec. 15 of a Notice of Motion to revert to a prior version of Calgary’s Land-Use Bylaw, thus eliminating the citywide rezoning.
The subject of Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) cash has been asked and answered in multiple different ways, going back to the initial debate when the measure first passed in May 2024.
Councillors in both the previous and current councils have heard that the citywide rezoning decision isn’t tied to HAF funding, but that there was some risk to the final payments if they didn’t meet certain criteria outlined by the funding agreement.
City of Calgary Chief Operating Officer Stuart Dalgleish went through a detailed account of how administration advised the past council of the risk in each step of the citywide rezoning process.
Mayor Farkas said he’s spoken with both provincial and federal officials over the past few weeks, including with Housing Minister Gregor Robertson and Finance Minister Francois Philippe Champagne.
“Federal officials confirmed that compliance with the Housing Accelerator Fund is assessed based on housing outcomes, not the use of any single zoning tool. Blanket rezoning was not identified as a legal requirement of the HAF contribution agreement,” he told councillors.
Farkas said he “explicitly” asked Minister Champagne about the elimination of citywide rezoning from the Land-Use Bylaw, and the minister told him that they supported “a flexible approach that respects local decision making.”
In a statement provided to LWC from a spokesperson for the federal Housing Minister, they said that their stance hasn’t changed.
“We are aware of Calgary’s proposal and are reviewing the details, but we’ve said both publicly and in conversations with the City of Calgary that we expect municipalities to fulfill the agreements they signed with the federal government in order to get access to federal funds,” read the emailed statement from office spokesperson Renée LeBlanc Proctor.
“If a partner’s agreed upon commitments aren’t met or are reversed, this puts their HAF funding at risk.”
Government sources have also told LWC that a final decision on Calgary’s HAF funding hasn’t yet been made.
The HAF funding agreement does reference exclusionary zoning and making changes related to broad upzoning allowing more housing choice.
The mayor also said that he spoke with provincial officials, who expressed support for a local approach.
“They pledged to forcefully advocate for and defend Calgary’s interests with the federal government, should council choose to proceed in that direction, including with respect to maintaining HAF funding,” Farkas said.
Farkas said that, technically, the HAF agreement involves the province and the federal governments.
“All government partners recognize that Calgary was already achieving our housing targets more than a year ahead of schedule, and expressed a willingness to work with us regardless of the decision made, specifically on this notice of motion
Councillors voted 13-2 to move ahead with the removal of citywide rezoning from the Land-Use Bylaw on Dec. 15.
