The Town of Gibsons will receive over $2.1 million to deliver “significant, lasting changes to how homes will be built,” the federal government announced Thursday.
Local government representatives including West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast–Sea to Sky MP Patrick Weiler and Gibsons Mayor Silas White gathered in Gibsons on March 14 to announce a milestone development in the town’s application to the Housing Accelerator Fund.
“These changes will help cut the red tape and tear down the stumbling blocks, they're slowing housing down,” said Weiler.
The agreement will help fast-track permitting for 58 additional homes in Gibsons over the next few years and is estimated to “spur” the construction of an additional 900 homes over the next decade, said Weiler.
“We need bold and fearless action and innovation to build the homes that we need in our communities, and that's what the housing accelerator fund was designed to deliver,” Weiler said.
The money received initially represents 25 per cent of the grant. The rest of the funding rolls out over the next three years and will be distributed based on the town submitting annual reports to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) for the remaining 75 per cent.
Some of the initiatives planned include developing a gentle density program with pre-zoned areas and pre-approved designs for developing medium-density duplex and multifamily housing, specialist townhomes and multiplexes and assessing lands townwide that are suitable for a range of desired housing types, including personal rental housing, affordable housing, missing middle housing, and housing near amenities and transit services. Also part of the agreement is the town reducing or eliminating off-street parking requirements for housing developments.
Weiler said that the Housing Accelerator Fund is working with federal and municipal governments nationwide to fastrack their shared goal of building 100,000 housing units from coast to coast to coast over the next few years, and the creation of 750,000 permanent housing units over the next decade.
White said that the Town of Gibsons council recognizes that affordable housing is the community's greatest and most crucial need. Gibsons is in an “acutely difficult situation,” said White. The town is proximately affected by Vancouver’s real estate market while being isolated enough that it does not have economies of scale advantages that other communities close to the “hottest real estate market in Canada” have.
“We need workers here. We need families here. We need young adults here. Seniors who've lived here for decades need to be able to stay here as they age,” White said. “As a single-family home becomes ever more unattainable for these groups, we need housing options.”
White said that over the past year, the municipality has been preparing to integrate the gentle density that the funding will allow for, and recognized the dedicated work by planning staff as they prepare to update Gibsons’ Official Community Plan with a focus on housing.
The money from the Housing Accelerator Fund will help to cover the costs of work that has already been done on these housing projects and will free up money for other initiatives in the future.
Jordan Copp is the Coast Reporter’s civic and Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
