As a result of their deliberations committees may make recommendations which they include in their reports for the consideration of the House of Commons or the Government. Recommendations related to this study are listed below.

Recommendation 1

That all regions of Canada be eligible for Housing Accelerator Fund resources—including rural and northern communities, Indigenous communities, mid-size municipalities, and large urban centres.

Recommendation 2

That the Government of Canada build on the lessons learned from the successful rapid delivery of funding through the Rapid Housing Initiative to ensure that funding through the Housing Accelerator Fund is delivered to municipalities as quickly as possible, including to allow for the completion of time-sensitive real estate transactions.

Recommendation 3

That the Housing Accelerator Fund be as flexible as possible in order to address the diverse barriers to speeding up the construction of housing in communities across the country.

Recommendation 4

That in order to increase the depth of affordability, funding provided through the Housing Accelerator Fund be stackable with other National Housing Strategy programs—including the National Housing Co-Investment Fund, Rapid Housing Initiative, Rental Construction Financing Initiative, and the Federal Lands Initiative—as well as provincial, territorial, municipal, and Indigenous government funding programs.

Recommendation 5

That the Government of Canada coordinate with federal, provincial, territorial, municipal and Indigenous governments to achieve better alignment of policies and funding programs impacting the supply of affordable housing.

Recommendation 6

That the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation develop data collection mechanisms to track the impact of the Housing Accelerator Fund, including the number of net new units created as a result of municipal zoning and development policy reforms and capacity building funded through the program and the affordability of net new units created as a result of funding allocated through the program; that this data be released publicly; and further, that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation be prepared to provide updates regarding this data to the committee as the Fund is rolled out.

Recommendation 7

That the Housing Accelerator Fund be largely devoted to the acquisition, renovation, and construction of off-market affordable rental housing units.

Recommendation 8

That, as part of the implementation of the Housing Accelerator Fund, the federal government adopt an updated definition of the concept of affordable housing based on household income; and further, that the Fund account for differing definitions of affordability in Indigenous communities.

Recommendation 9

That the Government of Canada ensure that the Housing Accelerator Fund adheres to the criteria of Canada’s National Housing Strategy relating to affordability, accessibility, and energy consumption and emissions.

Recommendation 10

That the Housing Accelerator Fund seek to accelerate the creation of new units by providing resources to municipalities and Conservation Authorities to improve the development approvals process with investments that support a broad list of eligible improvements that include but are not limited to the hiring of additional staff dedicated to increasing housing supply, digital e-permitting, Lean Sigma methodologies, and other automated improvements.

Recommendation 11

That the Government of Canada support municipal zoning and development policy reforms and capacity building funded through the Housing Accelerator Fund to help accelerate the construction of adequate safe and affordable housing for vulnerable populations, including women, racialized people, Indigenous people, and barrier-free housing for persons with disabilities.

Recommendation 12

That the Housing Accelerator Fund support municipalities with the goal of creating new affordable units below established price or rent targets. That the grant allow municipalities to incentivize new development by waiving or substantially lowering development fees, including, but not limited to, development charges, application fees, permits and levies, and supplementing current municipal programs (including brownfield development programs, zero-interest loans, renovate to rent programs and property acquisition programs) that incentivize the creation of new housing units.

Recommendation 13

That investments provided to municipalities to incentivize the creation of net new affordable housing units give weighted importance to funding that supports higher densities, long-term affordability, transit-oriented development, inclusionary zoning policies, climate-friendly and energy efficient units, and increasing the supply of affordable family-oriented units and deeply affordable units for women, gender-diverse people, Indigenous people, and persons with disabilities.

Recommendation 14

That the Housing Accelerator Fund support public and non-profit acquisition of vacant land and existing buildings, including rental housing stock, for the purpose of creating net-new affordable housing units.

Recommendation 15

That the Government of Canada reform the process through which vacant or unused federal properties are made available to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to be made available for the construction of affordable housing through the Federal Lands Initiative in order to ensure municipalities and affordable housing organizations are able to rapidly acquire vacant or unused federal lands and buildings in order to create affordable housing units.

Recommendation 16

That the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation explore options to increase the transparency of the Federal Lands Initiative to ensure stakeholders are able to access detailed information on available lands.

Recommendation 17

That the Government of Canada consider additional measures through the National Housing Strategy that will level the playing field for municipalities and non-profits in purchasing existing rental buildings and vacant land in order to protect the long-term affordability of existing rental housing stock and ensure that vacant urban land is used for the development of affordable housing where it is needed and not speculation.