The City of Maple Ridge was snubbed by the federal government as Ottawa doled out $4 billion to cities across Canada, to help provide more housing.
Under its Housing Accelerator Fund, the Liberal government signed 179 housing deals. There were a total of 544 applications, with many rebuffed, including Maple Ridge’s ask of $16 million.
“It’s disappointing,” said Mayor Dan Ruimy. “There’s quite a few of us who got turned down, and the surprising part is we are two of the fastest growing – us and Langley.”
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On Jan. 30 the provincial government released a new BC Stats report that showed Maple Ridge is projected to have population growth going from 100,000 in 2023 to 145,000 people by 2046. It is growing at a rate more than double the national average.
The need to prepare for rapid growth has been a message of Ruimy’s since he was elected in October of 2022.
“We need to position ourselves for the next 20 to 30 years,” he said.
Some of the successful applicants included Vancouver receiving $115 million, Surrey $96 million, and Burnaby $43 million.
The money is supposed to be used to streamline development, and change policies to allow faster building, with greater density.
Ruimy noted city hall is already working to speed the approval of the 500-plus applications it receives from builders each year, with new processes and software, and there is funding in the 2024 budget for new positions in the planning department.
He has spoken to mayors in neighbouring cities such as Port Coquitlam’s Brad West and Eric Woodward in the Township of Langley, and all are feeling the same frustration.
“With this, it’s clear to me that we have a federal government more concerned about photo opportunities than actually building more housing,” Woodward said. “It is a wasteful handout of $4 billion to selected areas that instead could have actually made a difference in municipalities like ours that are doubling the national average for growth rates, yet we receive nothing.”
The program was administered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and “demand for the program significantly exceeded the available budget,” said CMHC spokesperson David Harris.
Ruimy said based on the uptake the program was a big hit, and it needs more funding.
“Four billion dollars went too fast – they need a second round (of grants),” said Ruimy.
The federal government says its deals with cities under the plan will see 750,000 homes built over the next 10 years.
-With files from The Langley Advance Times
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