There’s good news on Calgary’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) front, but future action by Calgary city council could still impact the final instalment.

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said Wednesday that since the City of Calgary was still in compliance with the HAF agreement, and that the City of Calgary would get a third instalment of roughly $64.7 million.

The fourth and final instalment would come sometime in 2027

There’s been ongoing back and forth over Calgary’s adherence to the HAF funding agreement and whether funding would be in peril with city council’s recent repeal of citywide rezoning.

City administration has said they’ve always maintained that the federal housing cash could be at risk if Calgary repealed citywide rezoning. City administration went as far as to point out that nearly a billion in funding could be in jeopardy with a repeal.

Mayor Farkas said today’s announcement of the third instalment on its way is proof that those fears were unfounded.

“We are building something that lasts, something communities can support, and still delivers the homes that Calgarians need. The federal government recognized that fact. They recognize that Calgary can take on a more targeted, made-in-Calgary approach and still meet and exceed housing goals,” he said.  

“Make no mistake, this is a strong vote of confidence in the city and in our city council. It is a strong vote of confidence and a replacement strategy.”

Mayor Farkas said the $64.7 million will be received in the coming days.

He pointed to Calgary’s strength in housing, having delivered more than 61,000 homes since 2023, with HAF funds supporting nearly 13,000 market and 1,500 non-market homes.

Strings attached to the final instalment

While the third instalment is in transit, it’s largely due to timing. Calgary’s repeal of rezoning doesn’t officially take effect until Aug. 4, meaning they have technically complied.

That means all bets are off for the fourth and final instalment of the HAF funds.

A letter to Mayor Farkas from the Honourable Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing, outlined the terms to receive the final federal HAF payment.

It said that council will adopt a zoning replacement that allows a minimum of four units be built on a lot for a significant majority of the lots across the city, and that the replacement be adopted or significantly developed before October 27, 2026.

Mayor Farkas said he believes Calgary is within striking distance of that target, particularly considering that most of the newer areas of the city have significant density, and are already zoned RG. 

Still, if a solution can’t be found, the mayor said he’d consider forgoing that final instalment of nearly $65 million.

“That’s a discussion and debate that needs to be had by our council in full consultation with Calgarians in terms of how and if we go down that road, and whether they say the $60 million or so may be worth that level of approach,” Farkas told reporters.

“But from where we stand, just shy of half of the lots in Calgary allow for four units. By rights, it’s not a big leap to go to a majority of the units, allowing for that, especially if we’re doing it in a more targeted way through Local Area Plan process.”

He said it’s not just zoning that’s allowed more housing in Calgary; it’s provincial partnerships, non-market support and the availability of city-owned land.

“I am very happy to have that debate with council and that discussion with Calgarians,” he said.

“But again, it can’t just be because there’s money attached. It has to be, is this the right direction for Calgary to continue to grow.”

Good reminder of Calgary commitments

Willem Klumpenhouwer with More Neighbours Calgary said that he was glad to see the federal government come through with the funding, he was equally happy to see that the feds reminded the city of a commitment to remove exclusionary zoning.

“I would also remind you that Mayor Farkas did make a campaign promise that he was going to repeal and replace blanket rezoning. This doesn’t really change that equation. That is still a commitment that he has not honoured,” he told reporters.

“So, I’d like to see that commitment regardless of what the federal funding situation looks like.”

Klumpenhouwer said the easiest solution is to adopt a four-doors-by-right policy. That could mean duplexes with suites, or perhaps rowhouses without. He said one of the biggest bones of contention heard during the recent public hearing was being able to have four units plus four suites.

“This would remove that,” he said.

“It would find a way to thread the needle between listening to what Calgarians were upset about but also providing good housing policy in the future.”

The Office of the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure acknowledged that Calgary has the highest number of housing starts per capita in recent years. The Housing Accelerator Fund rewards local governments that cut red tape and build more homes faster, they said.

“Recognizing the progress that Calgary has made to date and Mayor Farkas’ commitment to develop a ‘more nuanced approach to land use policy’ that continues to align with the City’s HAF commitments, the decision was made to issue Calgary’s third HAF installment with certain conditions,” read a statement from Renée LeBlanc Proctor, press secretary for Minister Robertson.

“Canadians expect their governments to work together to solve the housing crisis. The government will continue to work with the city to ensure that commitments are met under the agreement.”

The letter does indicate that the third instalment was made with certain conditions, but upon questions, it wasn’t clear if that money could be clawed back if Calgary didn’t meet those conditions.

Work ahead to meet the agreement terms

Calgary’s Chief Housing Officer, Reid Hendry, said they’ve been going strong in eploying the Housing Accelerator Fund capital that’s been approved ($251 million) through Calgary’s budget. It’s gone into market and non-market interventions, data research like the civic census, burying power lines and other works to keep housing moving.

Hendry said that they’ll be providing a Housing Strategy update to Calgary city council on May 6.

“It’s a six-year plan. We’re at about three years. Now is the time to update, revise, talk about how the world is the same and how the world is different from January 1 of 2024, as it relates specifically to rezoning,” he said.

As for having four units by right on a significant majority of city lots in Calgary, Hendry said that what they’ve heard from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation – the grantor – is that it needs to be “something of lasting change.”

“The answer is, is that it’s not clear, and that we will continue to stay engaged in a collaborative effort with the federal government to further define what a significant portion of the city means to council, and what a significant portion of the city means to the federal government and to the communities that we work with,” he said.

Mayor Farkas said that he’s working with Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly on a Notice of Motion that would give more money to the Local Area Plan process, as a means of expediting that process to ensure there’s more clarity on where density can go.

“So, I strongly believe that the evidence demonstrates that we can easily hit 50 per cent of Calgary’s lots, allowing four units or more without draconian one-size-fits-all, or blanket measures,” he said.

“We need to use a scalpel. We can’t take a blunt instrument like blanket rezoning, which was resoundingly rejected by both Calgarian voters as well as the city council.”