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By Victor Kaisar

No Grant Money

Second City of Kamloops application to federal housing fund rejected

May 23, 2025 | 11:23 AM

KAMLOOPS — A second attempt by the City of Kamloops to secure funding from the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) was not successful.

In September last year, the city had applied for $11.9 million under the Large/Urban funding stream, which would be used to build 300 units in Kamloops over three years.

“The City was notified in March 2025 that our second grant application was unsuccessful,” a report by Development, Engineering and Sustainability Director Marvin Kwiatkowski said.

“The feedback on our application was positive, including that it was a “strong application, good initiatives, good timelines… not all strong applications get approved.”

In the report, Kwiatkowski said the City hoped to use $3.5 million for investments in affordable housing, $3.5 million towards investments in housing related infrastructure like water, sewer, and transit, and $3.5 million for community related infrastructure like parks and active transportation.

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The final $1.4 million was earmarked for investments in the Housing Accelerator Fund action plan items.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), there were 235 applications for $400 million that was available as part of the second round of the Housing Accelerator Fund.

“The evaluation process for both the first and second round of HAF was highly competitive, with many strong applications received and not all could be funded,” CMHC spokesperson Leonard Catling told CFJC Today in a statement.

He said 62 applications were successful, and that “only the most ambitious applications were selected.”

Catling also said while all HAF funds are now committed, CMHC is “committed to working with communities to seek positive housing solutions through other National Housing Strategy (NHS) programs.”

The city’s previous application for $15.6 million to build around 400 units of housing was also denied in March last year, as the initial $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund was oversubscribed.

Next Steps in Kamloops

In the wake of another rejection, City of Kamloops staff say they will now be looking at a number of other funding options to increase the number of housing units in a community that is subject to provincially-mandated housing targets.

That includes increasing the pace of operationalizing the Community Land Trust through seed money from the Land Sales Reserve as well as acquiring land for the Community Land Trust by selling city-owned properties deemed unsuitable for land trust purposes.

The City will also continue to pursue other grant opportunities including the Canadian Housing Infrastructure Fund, the Active Transportation Fund, and the Union of BC Municipalities’ Strategic Priorities Fund. According to the city, it has applied for money from all of those grants.

City staff will also review and update their Development Cost Charges Bylaw to include new growth-related infrastructure projects following legislative changes made by the Provincial Government last year.

They say that review will also include the updated Housing Needs Assessment and the 2025 Official Community Plan update.

Kwiatkowski’s report will be presented at Tuesday’s (May 27) Kamloops council meeting for information and possible discussion.