This morning, the The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities announced together with the towns of New Glasgow, Pictou, and Westville they’ve reached a $5.6 million deal to speed up the building of more than 190 homes within the next three years. This effort is just the beginning.
“Today’s announcement will help build more than 190 homes in New Glasgow, Westville, and Pictou over the next three years and over 2,100 homes over the next decade.” said Fraser.
The agreements are part of the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), which is making it easier and faster to build much needed homes.
New Glasgow is getting almost $3.3 million to kickstart seven different projects designed to offer a mix of home types and sizes for everyone in the community. Their plan includes creating a community strategy that looks ahead at the town’s water needs. The Town is also bringing in an online system for building permits to speed things up and are looking into turning empty buildings into affordable homes.
New housing deals in New Glasgow, Pictou, and Westville!
— Sean Fraser (@SeanFraserMP) February 23, 2024
The changes they are making will create more than 2,000 additional homes over the next decade.
This is going to help get more homes built at prices people can afford. pic.twitter.com/Gf0pSuDHyd
“With the support of the Housing Accelerator Fund, New Glasgow will be better positioned to provide such support to facilitate the growth in housing we need.” said Nancy Dicks, Mayor of New Glasgow.
The Town of Pictou will receive over $775,000 for its own seven projects. These include changing rules to allow more duplexes and tiny homes, especially on smaller pieces of land.
“Numerous proposed projects will now move forward and residents will benefit from the creation of reliable infrastructure and the promotion of accessibility within the town” said Jim Ryan, Mayor of Pictou.
Pictou is also drafting a plan focused on keeping the town’s water system up to date and making it quicker to get building projects approved by cutting down on the need for public meetings or council approvals.
Westville’s getting more than $1.5 million for its efforts, which also include seven different initiatives. Their plans involve changing zoning laws to allow more homes to be built in a given area and making it easier to build tiny homes on small lots.
“Westville appreciates the fact that the federal government has stepped forward to make this impactful investment in Westville, its residents and the community’s future.” said Lennie White, Mayor of the Town of Westville.
Westville will also working on extending utilities like water to new housing areas, finding a new water source to support more homes, and cleaning up old, unused land for new homes.
“Rural communities like ours needs all levels of government to work together to help get more homes built for all Canadians at prices they can afford.” said Fraser