Port Coquitlam turns to feds again to help with housing crunch

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. 

That’s the message Port Coquitlam is telling staff as it reapplies for federal funding from the Housing Accelerator Fund, a Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation-led program that aims to increase housing in cities across the country. 

The city first applied to the federal government’s $4 billion-HAF in 2023. At the time, city staff characterized their initial bid was “a longshot” due to the program’s preference for larger municipalities. 

But the city’s bid may have been closer than some originally thought. 

“Our application was told it was very solid and very close, so we were invited to apply on the second round of funding,” said Bruce Irvine, Port Coquitlam’s director of planning and development, at a committee of council meeting on Tuesday. 

Council unanimously approved the motion at the afternoon meeting. 

The city, along with six others in the Lower Mainland, was rejected for HAF earlier this year. 

Neighbouring Coquitlam was granted $25 million from the HAF to build nearly 3,000 homes over the next decade. Other communities such as Campbell River and Squamish — with fewer residents than Port Coquitlam — were also provided federal funding. 

Port Coquitlam, though, felt the rejection was unfair as the city grapples with new housing mandates.  

In March, Mayor Brad West co-wrote an open letter with Maple Ridge Mayor Dan Ruimy and Eric Woodward, Township of Langley mayor, arguing how the HAF was outdated and flawed. 

All three jurisdictions were rejected from funding despite significant population growth in recent years, streamlining thedevelopment permit process and encouraging more housing supply. 

Port Coquitlam, a city that now hosts more than 61,000 residents, grew by 4.9 per cent from 2016 to 2021. 

Population projections estimate nearly 72,000 people will call Port Coquitlam home by 2031. 

To meet the demand, the city commissioned a housing needs report in 2022 that projected Port Coquitlam must add about 550 new dwellings per year for the next decade. The city has added 322 new residential units per year over the last 10 years, according a press release published last year. 

Port Coquitlam was also placed on the provincial housing target list earlier this year, a measure the province can take under the Housing Supply Act to force cities to add more housing. 

B.C. expects Port Coquitlam to add 2,279 units of housing over the next five years. 

The housing targets were part of a cookie cutter, copy and paste formula that favour studio and one-bedroom apartments, West said in a CityNews article at the time. 

“We don’t want a community that is just a whole bunch of 470 square foot condos,” he said. 

Earlier this month, the province unveiled standardized multiplex housing designs for small-scale, multi-unit housing.  

If Port Coquitlam received HAF funding, Irvine said that the city would ensure that any new future development fits the community.

“As part of this initiative, we’ve looked to see what fits for us from those pre-approved pieces, bring it back to council, bring it back to staff, and ideally identify a set of plans that we would be comfortable with in certain neighbourhoods,” he said. 

The federal government pledged an additional $400 million in the HAF earlier this year, following the rejection of Port Coquitlam’s application. The funding is only available to cities that were not approved for the program last year. 

Although Port Coquitlam came close in round one, Irvine doesn’t expect this latest application round to be any easier. 

There are 300 different cities, First Nations and towns across Canada that are applying for a smaller portion of funding compared to the initial round, he said. 

But Port Coquitlam has a solid case for federal funding, Irvine added. It’s a community that is willing to grow, yet doesn’t have the infrastructure to cope with the expected population increase. A draft of the application has also been shared with Ron McKinnon, Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam MP. 

“Our barriers to grow is not willingness, not community, it’s infrastructure, abilities and monies that we can’t put on the local taxpayer,” Irvine said. “I think we’re the poster child for what they’re trying to do: a city that can grow beyond its normal rate.” 

The CMHC has added a few new rules to the round two applicants: including a maximum of three initiatives from the previous application and ensuring that 10 HAF best practices are met in all action plan initiatives. 

The HAF best practices include making municipal-owned land available for housing, reducing or eliminating parking standards and developing affordable housing plans, among other topics. 

The city requested up to $18 million in funding, predicting the money could pave the way for 1,365 new units of housing over the next three years. 

The CMHC will determine how much money Port Coquitlam receive, should the city be admitted into the program. 

Applications for the HAF close on Sep. 13.