FAQs
What is The Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF)?
The Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) is a $4-billion-dollar Federal funding initiative that supports Canadian municipalities to accelerate the delivery of housing and create the conditions for additional housing to be built. The program aims to increase the housing supply and enhance certainty in the approvals and building process in response to the national housing crisis. The City applied to the HAF because the objectives and priorities of the HAF strongly align with the City’s Strategic Priorities and guiding policies. It is vital for Regina to ensure that our housing supply keeps pace with population growth so that we maintain housing availability and affordability.
Why are these zoning changes being made? Why are we not focusing on expanding housing in new communities to grow our housing supply?
While development of new communities is important to help grow the city’s housing supply, it is also important to ensure that development in established areas continues to provide options that meet the needs of people moving to our city or who want to stay here. Restricting housing options in established areas limits where people can live, reduces citywide housing availability, and can lead to higher rents and home prices. Relying solely on new growth areas to accommodate additional population growth also requires the City to take on new infrastructure and the additional costs related to its future maintenance, operation and replacement.
Enabling diverse housing options citywide will ensure families have opportunities to enter the housing market and live near existing schools and community centers, provide options for seniors who want to age in their communities, and allow students and workers to live close to education and employment opportunities. It will also make efficient use of existing infrastructure, services and amenities and ensure our established neighbourhoods are more resilient to change over time.
How will these changes impact current residents?
Amendments to the City’s Zoning Bylaw included in Phase 1 of the project allow for more housing units to be built on residential lots in established neighbourhoods, taller buildings to be built on sites designated for mid and high-density development, and citywide parking minimums to shift from mandatory to recommended. We may see some new development in 2024 as a result of these changes, however we expect most change in established neighbourhoods to be more gradual over time. It's worth noting that while these changes provide flexibility to build more types of housing, they do not prohibit the development of single-family homes.
The impacts of Zoning Bylaw amendments that will be advanced as part of future phases will be evaluated as we progress the project.
Will residents have an opportunity to give feedback?
The changes to the Zoning Bylaw regulations are part of a City Council-directed shift for our municipality to be more nimble in addressing our critical housing shortage. These changes enable the City to take advantage of $35.2 million in federal funding (Housing Accelerator Fund) to fast track more than 1,000 housing units over the next three years.
Direction for the changes came during the regular Council and Committee meeting process, including posting the reports publicly and providing interested parties with an opportunity to participate as delegates. The initial direction was approved at a public Council meeting in November; the bylaw changes in phase 1 were outlined in reports made public and discussed in public during meetings of the Regina Planning Council and Council earlier this year.
These changes represent a pivot in how the City of Regina will be supporting housing development, including removing barriers to housing developments and speeding up approval processes citywide. The City will continue to make residents aware of the changes on this page (Regina.ca/housingoptions) and through emails to residents who sign up for updates. Those on the update list will also be provided email notice of further reports outlining bylaw changes that will go to Council over the next few months.
