City of Waterloo council summary April 15, 2024
** The council summary below provides a snapshot of the major items presented at Monday’s council meeting. The council meeting webcast is available on the City of Waterloo YouTube page. Please refer to the minutes for an official record of the meeting.
City launches Housing Accelerator Fund action plan
Staff shared the City of Waterloo’s plan to use the $22,000,000 in funding from the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) to support municipal housing projects that will increase the supply of housing. The funds will be used to implement an action plan containing eight housing initiatives. The eight initiatives that make up the City’s approved action plan will help accelerate the construction of new housing (including new affordable housing), create greater certainty in the development approvals and building permit process, and support long lasting systemic change.
The City of Waterloo HAF Action Plan contains eight initiatives:
- Municipal Lands Program
Use identified municipally-owned lands for affordable and attainable housing. - Employment Land Conversion
Review employment land needs and amend the Official Plan and Zoning By-law to permit a mix of employment, commercial and residential 'as of right' on certain lands that were previously designated for employment purposes. - Corridor Expansion Study and Plan
Expand “missing middle”, transit supportive housing options in an area near the City’s post secondary institutions and public transit. - Online Development Application Submission/Approvals System
Create an online submission portal and application review system to track, integrate and expedite the development approval processes. - Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition Program
Develop a Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition program to enable the purchase of market rental buildings and/or units for affordable housing by mission-aligned not-for-profit housing providers, co-operatives and community land trusts. - Additional Residential Unit Toolkit and Financial Incentives
Create a webpage that helps homeowners understand the process, steps, requirements and costs associated with the construction of Additional Residential Units (ARUs), as well as the financial incentives to encourage homeowners to build market and affordable ARUs. - Pilot Community Planning Permit System
Adopt a planning tool that combines the three development processes (zoning, minor variance and site plan control) into one application, and an approval process that speeds up approvals by 50 per cent and enables housing to reach the market more quickly. - Parking Framework / Approval Process Update
Review and update of the City's parking requirements for new development to make optimal use of land and promote affordability. Create a streamlined process and monitoring framework for reviewing further reduced parking requests for developments containing affordable units.
The initiatives will implement several actions identified in the City’s Affordable Housing Strategy, and will help the City achieve its provincial housing target of 16,000 new units by 2031. More information and updates on the action plan are available on Engage Waterloo: www.engagewr.ca/waterlooHAFactions
City of Waterloo provides donation to support growth of Humane Society of KW
City of Waterloo Council unanimously supported a donation of $200,000 to the Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo and Stratford Perth to assist in the expansion of their Riverbend Drive location. This donation recognizes the valuable role that the Humane Society has in supporting Waterloo's complete community and equitable priorities by offering their programs and services, including a variety of low-cost veterinary services for the public. It also recognizes the growing role that the Humane Society plays in outreach services to vulnerable individuals and social service partners to help pet owners in crisis with emergency food, resources and veterinary care.
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Media contact:
Cari Van Niekerk
Director, Corporate Communications
cari.vanniekerk@waterloo.ca