Kitchener receives additional federal housing funding as a top-performing city

Kitchener, Ontario – Today, the City of Kitchener was awarded an additional $4.2 million in federal funding through the Housing Accelerator Fund initiative. This new contribution builds on the initial $42.4 million investment from the Federal government, helping Kitchener make significant progress in addressing the housing crisis.

“Tackling the housing crisis and making sure we have housing options for everyone in Kitchener requires community and government partners to come together in the spirit of collaboration and innovation,” said Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic. “With the help of the federal government, we are getting more housing of all types built here in Kitchener and advancing our shared priorities that are part of both Canada’s National Housing Strategy and Kitchener’s Housing for All strategy.”

Kitchener is excited to have exceeded the goals for the first year of projects proposed through its Housing Accelerator Fund programs. To maintain this momentum, the federal government has awarded top-performing cities like the City of Kitchener additional funding. In our case, these new dollars will be used to create programs that will be part of a Community Improvement Plan to further incentivize a range of housing types, including much needed missing middle housing.

“To support housing needs in Kitchener and throughout Canada, our federal government introduced the Housing Accelerator Fund,” said Tim Louis, Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Conestoga. “By working directly with municipalities, we are moving faster to build more inclusive and affordable housing.”

The initial Housing Accelerator Fund contributions of $42.4 million has already helped Kitchener:

• Develop the most flexible planning framework in the country around our major transit station areas;
• Enable four units, as-of-right zoning across the city;
• Unlock land and provide grants for not-for-profit housing providers to get affordable housing built.

“The federal government has been working with municipalities across the country to incentivize the construction of more housing through the Housing Accelerator Fund,” said Valerie Bradford, Member of Parliament for Kitchener South – Hespeler. “The City of Kitchener has played a supportive role in this significant initiative, and our ongoing partnership will help make housing more affordable for those in greatest need in our city.”

This housing announcement marks another milestone in the relationship between the Federal Government and the City of Kitchener to get more affordable housing built throughout our community. In the past year alone, Kitchener has seen a 70% increase in building permits for triplexes, fourplexes, and backyard accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The new funding will help continue this momentum by accelerating policies and incentives for these types of housing.

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For more information, contact:

Bethany Rowland 
Director, Corporate Communications & Marketing  
City of Kitchener  
bethany.rowland@kitchener.ca  

Nasreen

Strategic Communications Officer
Office of the Mayor and Council
City of Kitchener
Nasreen@kitchener.ca

About the Housing Accelerator Fund

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.