Bay of Quinte MP Ryan Williams: This Liberal Government Must Stop Holding Back Accelerator Funding from Municipalities That Need it Most.

September 09, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tonight, Belleville City Council will decide whether to apply for federal funding to expand the city’s housing supply. The initial application for funding was denied, but city staff are recommending council approve a new application for $16.8 million. This funding could potentially add an extra 460 housing units of various types over the next three years, addressing the growing housing crisis in the region.

Bay of Quinte MP Ryan Williams is urging the federal government to reconsider its approach to allocating the Housing Accelerator Fund. “The City of Belleville and every other municipality in our region were shut out of the Accelerator Funding process,” said MP Williams. “Only one municipality in the entire Eastern Ontario region received any of this critical funding. The Bay of Quinte is in a housing crisis, and I would hope this Liberal Government would recognize the urgency of the situation.”

MP Williams pointed out that this issue isn’t just isolated to Belleville but also affects Quinte West and Prince Edward County. “These communities have collectively spent hundreds of hours of staff time trying to secure this much-needed funding, yet we’ve seen no success. This failure lies squarely at the feet of the Liberal government, which continues to withhold funding from the areas that need it the most.”

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has claimed that the Housing Accelerator Fund is designed to boost housing supply while supporting affordable, diverse, and climate-resilient communities. However, despite the urgency and effort invested by local governments, Belleville, Quinte West, and Prince Edward County were all denied funding in the first round.

Municipalities that didn’t receive funding in the first round of the Housing Accelerator Fund have another opportunity to apply before the second-round deadline on September 13, 2024. MP Williams hopes this round will see the Liberal government step up to provide the Bay of Quinte region with the support it desperately needs to tackle the housing crisis.

“Across Canada, many cities have been left out in the cold when it comes to receiving vital Accelerator funding. The Trudeau government’s failure to ensure equitable distribution of these funds is creating further strain on municipalities that are already struggling to meet the housing demands of their residents,” said MP Williams. “It’s time this government took real action to fix Canada’s housing problem rather than paying lip service to communities in crisis.”