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How We Got Here

City Strategic Priorities and Housing Accelerator Fund

Phase One of the Infill Housing Program was adopted in 2017 and included policies that encouraged both laneway and carriage houses as well as townhouses and rowhouses.

Phase Two of the Infill Housing Program began in 2024, and the Infill Housing and Townhouse Programs were separated into two programs to address their unique requirements in terms of size and shape of buildings, as follows:

  • The Infill Housing Program focuses on a range of housing forms such as laneway houses and multiplexes, which can be built on a single lot. You can find more information at newwestcity.ca/infillhousing.
  • The Townhouse Program focuses on townhouses and will typically include multiple consolidated properties, with a minimum site size requirement. Lessons learned from the first phase of the program informed program updates that were adopted in 2026.

The 2026 update to the Townhouse Program, was undertaken with funding from the Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation (CMHC) through the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF). The Townhouse Program also aligns with City Council’s 2023-2026 Strategic Priorities Plan focus area “Homes and Housing Options”.

Community Engagement

In Spring 2025, the City carried out additional community engagement through Our City, Our Homes – an initiative focused on updates aimed to enable well-located homes that meet the diverse housing needs of our growing community. The goal of engagement was to help residents learn more about proposed changes to the City’s housing programs, while also inviting them to share feedback on proposed locations and housing types, for both infill housing and townhouses. Residents had the opportunity to ask questions, and share concerns and hopes about the future of housing through these programs. Analysis of this feedback, along with technical requirements were presented to Council as part of their direction setting.

Participants indicated general support for:

  • Allowing 3 storey townhouses (72% support)

  • Pre-zoning areas in the city for townhouses (73% support)

  • Allowing townhouse units to have secondary suites (64% support)

  • Continuing to require 1 off-street parking space per townhouse (55% support)

  • Maximizing opportunities for townhouses in the city, when shown different map scenarios

To see the full Engagement Summary Report which includes demographics and a breakdown of each question asked, click here.