Ottawa’s Housing Accelerator Fund scores big in Alberta, but affordable home development still lags

Recently recognized as top-performing communities by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC), Calgary and Edmonton epitomize the success of the Housing Accelerator Fund, a federal incentive program launched in the spring of 2023 to bolster the supply of housing across the country by eliminating red tape and improving efficiency.

In less than two years, the Housing Accelerator Fund has helped speed up the approval of close to 30,000 residential building permits, comprising 70,000 homes, in Alberta’s largest cities. The sizable impact of this program not only demonstrates the strengths of supply-side solutions, it also reveals the opportunities that lie ahead.