Building Kitchener Together is a group of initiatives that have been supported by the federal and provincial governments to advance our Housing For All strategy and provide a significant boost to Kitchener’s housing supply across the continuum. We’re committed to partnering with other orders of government to deliver on our mutual housing goals.

On this page:

  1. Building Kitchener Together projects
  2. Ontario Building Faster Fund
  3. Background

Building Kitchener Together projects

The following Building Kitchener Together initiatives are supported by federal Housing Accelerator Funding:

Major Transit Station Areas - Growing Together West (complete)

We are changing land use rules around major ION transit stations beginning with the seven major transit station areas west of the expressway. This will encourage density and responsible growth within core areas. City council approved this project in March 2024. Read the news release to learn more.

Major Transit Station Areas - Growing Together East

Following Growing Together West, we will look to change land use rules in the areas within a five to 10-minute walk from the Block Line and Fairway ION transit stops and future Sportsworld stop. Staff will begin to bring forward recommendations to city council on these land use and zoning changes in 2025.

Inclusionary zoning (complete)

We are requiring developers to build affordable housing units (along with market-based housing) in these areas using a new tool called inclusionary zoning in our 10 major transit station areas. City council approved this project in March 2024. Read the news release to learn more.

Providing city-owned land for affordable housing (ongoing)

We are providing city-owned lands for affordable or supportive housing projects. This commitment was made through our Housing For All strategy and has already been delivered on through the YW Kitchener-Waterloo supportive housing projects for women experiencing homelessness. In April 2024, we announced the donation of a two-acre parcel of land at River Road East and Ottawa Street North to Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region. Habitat Waterloo Region will use this land for purpose-built affordable housing that will include a number of larger three and four-bedroom units, as well as some smaller studio, one, and two-bedroom units. Read the full news release.

Over the next few years, we will actively look for new opportunities to provide lands for below-market rental and ownership housing and will continue to work directly with affordable housing providers to access these lands and collaborate on the delivery of affordable housing together.

Affordable housing grant pilot (ongoing)

Starting in 2024, the federal government and the City of Kitchener will provide a $10,000-per-unit grant to help build more than 500 new not-for-profit affordable housing units. Funding will help cover early project costs for developments that provide not-for-profit supportive, affordable rental or affordable co-op housing units. Staff are in the early stages of developing a policy to guide this grant and loan program. Applications are expected to open in May 2024.

Four units city-wide (complete)

In March 2024, city council approved zoning and official plan changes to permit up to four dwelling units on any lot that allows a single-detached dwelling, semi-detached dwelling or street fronting townhouse dwelling, subject to regulations. Enabling four units will unlock the potential for up to four dwelling units on about 41,500 residential lots across Kitchener. This provides a significant opportunity for homeowners and developers to expand the number of units in existing neighbourhoods.

Strategic land acquisition (ongoing)

We will make more land available for affordable housing development, especially within our major transit station areas. In addition, we will work directly with interested affordable housing providers to access these lands and collaborate on the delivery of affordable housing together with necessary related community infrastructure.

We will continue to leverage relationships with other Waterloo Region area municipalities to coordinate efforts to expand this affordable housing land development program to grow a pool of development-ready land across the region.

Climate adaptation plan

Through Building Kitchener Together, we will also continue advancing work on our greenhouse gas reduction targets by creating a climate adaptation plan that will be used in the short term to inform land use policy updates as we develop our new Official Plan.

Ontario Building Faster Fund

On April 11, 2024, Premier Doug Ford announced that the City of Kitchener would be receiving $14 million in funding from the Building Faster Fund for achieving 139% of our goal for housing starts in 2023.  Details of eligible uses for the fund are being finalized with the Province of Ontario. Read the news release about the fund to learn more.

Background

We are #BuildingKitchenerTogether through support from the federal and provincial governments and collaborative community efforts, including:

Housing Accelerator Fund (Government of Canada)

In November 2023, the federal government announced a $42.4 million Housing Accelerator Fund allocation for the City of Kitchener. This funding will fast-track the construction of 1,216 new homes by early 2027 to help address housing affordability and the increasing demand for housing in our community.

The Housing Accelerator Fund helps cut red tape and fast-track at least 100,000 new homes for people in towns, cities and Indigenous communities across Canada. It asks for innovative action plans from local governments and, once approved, provides upfront funding to ensure the timely building of new homes, as well as additional funds upon delivering results. Building Kitchener Together and the transformative projects outlined here are part of our action plan for the Housing Accelerator Fund.

In Budget 2024, the Government of Canada announced additional housing and infrastructure programs that can support further progress on Building Kitchener Together.

Building Faster Fund (Government of Ontario)

The Building Faster Fund (BFF) is a three-year, $1.2-billion provincial program that is designed to encourage municipalities to address the housing supply crisis. The fund rewards municipalities that make significant progress against their targets by providing funding for housing-enabling and community-enabling infrastructure. In April 2024, The City of Kitchener received $14 million in funding for exceeding our 2023 housing target. As we work with the provincial government to determine initiatives eligible under this fund, we will provide updates on our BFF projects.

In Budget 2024, the Province of Ontario announced additional housing-enabling funding programs that can support further progress on Building Kitchener Together.

Housing For All strategy (City of Kitchener)

Housing For All is the City of Kitchener's comprehensive strategy to realize the right to housing and help make housing affordable using the tools and resources available to a local municipality. In late 2020, we launched this affordable housing strategy and outlined several co-development solutions to increase affordable housing options across the local housing continuum. The five-year strategy outlines seven key priorities and over 40 actions. We developed the Housing For All strategy in collaboration with an advisory committee that included those with lived experience, community partners, post-secondary institutions, the Region of Waterloo, affordable housing service providers and the development industry.

Municipal Housing Pledge

In March 2023, following a request from the Province of Ontario, city council unanimously approved a housing pledge that will support the building of 35,000 additional homes in Kitchener by 2031. The pledge is a commitment to advance progress on a variety of strategies and actions that will support the building of new homes. This pledge demonstrates our commitment to unlocking more housing, streamlining development approvals, removing barriers and accelerating planning in support of the province’s housing target.