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Housing Accelerator Fund

New Westminster was awarded an $11 million grant from the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) program. This program, established by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), provides financial support that enables the City to advance initiatives aimed at improving the housing approval process, increasing housing supply, and expanding housing choice.

All of the work identified in the action plan seeks to realize objectives in Council’s 2023-2026 Strategic Priorities Plan, which includes Homes and Housing Options as a focus area. The Strategic Plan focuses on clearing the way for all types of homes needed by people today and tomorrow, and prioritizing homes for those with the greatest need.

 

New Westminster's HAF Action Plan

In receiving the grant, New Westminster has committed to implementing an action plan that includes seven initiatives to meet the housing supply targets.

completed Initiatives

  • Development Approval Process Acceleration: Redesign the development application process to speed up the review timelines and increase efficiency. This initiative was launched in the spring of 2023. The resulting work identified a range of action items to increase efficiency in the approval process, which Council directed staff to implement on July 8, 2024. See the Council report for more information.
  • Family Friendly Housing Acceleration: Amplify the Family Friendly Housing Policy by mandating that a larger number of family friendly units be provided in all new projects to create more suitable housing options for households with children. The updated Family Friendly Policy was endorsed by Council in October 2024. See the Family Friendly webpage for more information.
  • reGENERATE: A Long-Range Vision for the Neighbourhood Around 22nd Street SkyTrain Station: Create a vision for a, transit-oriented, master planned neighbourhood in the 22nd Station area, using a planning process structured to advance decolonization of development approvals. This initiative was launched in June 2023 and engagement took place from September 2023 to May 2024, which included an international Ideas Challenge. Outcomes and concepts were analyzed and refined for the final vision which was endorsed by Council in December 2024. Visit the 22nd Station Bold Vision webpage for more information.
  • Affordable Housing Acceleration – Phase 1: Amend the Zoning Bylaw to allow qualifying affordable housing as of right (i.e. no rezoning required) to remove the barriers for projects on properties owned by non-profit organizations. This initiative was launched in November 2023 and Phase 1 was endorsed by Council in January 2025. See the Affordable Housing Acceleration webpage for more information.
  • Inclusionary Housing Acceleration: Update the inclusionary housing policy to better reflect current market and development conditions to enable the creation of affordable rental units. This initiative was launched in August 2023. The resulting work mandated a inclusionary unit set aside rate of 10% in residential buildings. Certain development applications are exempt from the policy, see the Affordable Housing webpage for more information. The updated Inclusionary Housing Policy was endorsed by Council in September 2025.

in progress Initiatives

  • Affordable Housing Acceleration – Phase 2: Amend the Official Community Plan to allow qualifying affordable housing projects in a six story apartment building in areas designated for townhouses This initiative is a continuation of Phase 1 and another round of consultation was undertaken in March 2025. See the Affordable Housing Acceleration webpage for more information.
  • Townhouse Acceleration: Pre-zone lands to make it easier to construct new townhouse units. The process would explore the possibility of allowing larger units and the inclusion of lock off units. Consideration would be given to expanding the townhouse land use designation to more areas of the city. This initiative was launched in May 2024 and community engagement took place in March 2025. See the Infill Housing and Townhouse Accelerator webpage for more information. 

Housing Supply Targets

The Housing Accelerator Fund helps the City increase the supply of new homes. It ensures that the City can resource and quickly advance a number of key initiatives aimed at improving the processes around the planning and development of the infrastructure and amenities needed to support more homes and people.

With this fund, New Westminster has committed to facilitating 2,300 new units by January 2027, including:

  • 1,829 multi-unit housing units located close to SkyTrain
  • 187 infill housing units (duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, etc.)
  • 269 additional multi-unit housing units.

Additionally, 9% of these units are projected to be affordable units.

About The Housing Accelerator Fund Program

In April 2023, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) introduced the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) program, a $4-billion initiative that will provide funding to local governments to fast track the development of 100,000 more housing units across the country. The objectives of the HAF program are to:

  • Support the development of complete communities that are walkable, consist of appropriate residential density and a diverse mix of land uses, and provide access to a wide variety of amenities and services through public and active transportation.
  • Support the development of affordable, inclusive, equitable, and diverse communities that encourage clear pathways to achieving greater socio-economic inclusion largely achieved through the equitable provision of housing across the entire housing spectrum.
  • Support the development of low-carbon and climate-resilient communities.