Affordable Rental Housing Grant Program for Not-For-Profit Corporations

Final program policy going to Council

On June 13, staff will be taking their Affordable Rental Housing Grant Program report to Waterloo Council for their consideration. This report contains a final program policy for Council’s consideration, which has been informed by staff evaluation, comments from public and stakeholder consultations and a best practices review. Thank you to everyone who participated in the engagement sessions, completed the online survey and provided feedback on the program policy.

Project background

To help address the growing problem of housing affordability, the City of Waterloo is developing an Affordable Housing Grant Program. In December 2020, Waterloo City Council directed staff to identify measures to support the retention and creation of affordable housing, including the creation of an Affordable Housing Grant Program to guide the allocation of available funding, providing financial support to developments that provide affordable housing in the City. On May 17, 2021 Council report (IPPW2021-036) was approved to launch the project.

To start, our Affordable Housing Grant Program will be created for Not-For-Profit Corporations providing new affordable housing units in the City. Current restrictions under the Ontario Municipal Act, 2001 require the city to have a Community Improvement Plan (CIP) before providing grant money to any for-profit or commercial enterprise. Note that this new grant program is being done separate from the citywide Affordable Housing Strategy that has been initiated