Brandon still waiting for answer on federal housing application

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This article was published 10/11/2023 (873 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg is currently mulling over changes to housing rules to qualify for millions in funding from the federal housing accelerator fund, but Brandon’s application hasn’t reached that step yet.

Back in June, Brandon’s director of planning and buildings Ryan Nickel talked about preliminary work done by city staff to apply for $7.2 million in funding for the fund.

To qualify for those funds, Nickel said the federal government might require some changes to Brandon’s zoning rules, parking requirements for new builds and other related items.

Speaking to the Sun on Thursday, Nickel said Brandon did end up making an application before the Aug. 18 deadline but has yet to hear a verdict on whether it will be approved or denied.

“My understanding is that Winnipeg and some of the larger cities in a way had a head start on the program,” Nickel said. “So they’ve received their responses where perhaps some of the smaller communities like Brandon are a little bit later in the process.”

Nickel said he wasn’t sure what conditions or changes to housing rules in Brandon the federal government will ask for if it does approve the request.

From a planning perspective, Nickel said infrastructure and zoning rules are two challenges when it comes to improving housing supply.

Existing infrastructure isn’t always able to accommodate growth, as in the case of the wastewater lift stations planned for construction in southwest Brandon being built to enable more construction in the area.

“The other kind of constraint is our standard in our zoning,” Nickel said. “We do have fairly restrictive standards for a good portion of our city.”

When Nickel presented to council about the housing accelerator proposal, he said around 50 per cent of residential-zoned properties are for single detached homes. In the last 10 years, detached housing has made up about 30 per cent of what has been built.

“When we’re talking about options provided for our residents, there’s a gap there between our rules and what we’d like to see from the market.”

Another issue is parking. When building new projects, requirements for parking spaces takes up a lot of room. Nickel said if there was more flexibility around parking, it might help more units get built.

Earlier this year, an affordable housing project at the site of the former Fleming School stalled due to inflationary effects on material costs. Since then, the former Progressive Conservative provincial government provided some funds before last month’s election to help get it going once again.

As a result, Nickel said the city has been able to issue construction permits and some construction has started.

In Winnipeg for a joint federal-provincial announcement on funding for Manitoba Hydro on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister and federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said she hoped the presence of a couple of Manitoba mayors at the event shows how important clean, affordable energy is to the residents of Brandon and Winnipeg.

She also said she believed those mayors share the federal government’s and Manitoba’s desire to “have more homes built faster.” The housing accelerator, she said, is designed to make that possible.

“I think that’s a great thing for cities across the country, I think it’s a great thing for provinces and territories across the country and I’m very keen to work with municipalities across Manitoba together with the provincial government on this issue and many others,” Freeland said.

While she did not name the mayors, Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett said in a Thursday phone interview that Freeland was referring to him and Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham.

“We’re taking that invitation and we’re going to continue to push at the federal level,” Fawcett said.

“On the other end, I am getting a meeting scheduled with Minister (Bernadette) Smith in Winnipeg, who is the new minister of the department of housing, addictions and mental health … We will be talking with her about the housing first model that we already have in Brandon, which is very, very good but underfunded. We’ll talk about the existing capacity inside Manitoba Housing that we already have in the city.”

The mayor said he was hoping to visit Ottawa early in the new year and meet with federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser. He also credited the federal government for contributing $5 million to the John Howard Society of Brandon and Westman Youth For Christ’s transitional housing program through the Rapid Housing Initiative.

The Sun reached out to Smith’s office to ask what her new government’s priorities are on the housing front and received this statement by email:

“Availability and supply of social and affordable housing units is a long-standing issue in many Manitoba municipalities. Our government is listening to Manitobans, and prioritizing this issue. I am working closely with my department to review how we can best preserve and protect our existing housing stock.

“At the same time, we will be learning about how other jurisdictions are addressing this issue, and how all levels of government can work collaboratively to address the housing supply.”

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