Housing Accelerator Fund

In March 2024, the City announced that it has been allocated over $10.4 million in federal funding through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Housing Accelerator Fund to stimulate housing growth.

The CMHC’s Housing Accelerator Fund is helping increase housing supply by removing barriers. For municipalities like ours, this funding helps support housing by improving planning processes, updating regulations, and making it easier to build a wider range of housing options throughout St. John’s.

The City’s action plan includes various new incentives and process improvements which are outlined below.

Incentives & Grants

Funding has supported the development of incentive and grant programs for various types of development, including multi-unit purpose built rentals, mixed income multi-unit developments and a grant program for subsidiary dwelling units (SDUs), backyard suites and tiny homes.

Click the plus sign for more information about the programs.

Multi-Unit Purpose Built Rentals Incentives

This program provides incentives such as fee exemptions to a maximum of $100,000 to developers for the development of Multi-Unit Purpose-Built Rental projects.

Fee exemptions considered for this initiative include:

Plumbing, Electrical, and Building Permit Fees.
Development Application and Development Fees

Eligibility

Organizations that are registered to carry out business in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Development must include at least four attached units with each having a private kitchen, bathroom and living area.
Units must be for long-term rental tenure. No short-term rentals.
Projects must comply with all applicable federal, provincial and municipal legislation, including the Development Regulations, the City of St. John’s Tax Act and all applicable by-laws and regulations

Development Agreement and Appeal Fees are not subject to exemption. Eligible projects must be approved between August 1, 2024 and December 31, 2026, and completed by December 31, 2027.

Apply

The application for incentives is included in the City's Building Permit or Planning Development Applications. Organizations shall be required to provide an incorporation number.

Developers with questions can contact the Planning and Development team by email planning@stjohns.ca or call (709) 576-8220.

Grant Program for Subsidiary Dwelling Units, Backyard Suites and Tiny Homes (applications closed)

The City of St. John’s is proud to share that the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) Homeowner Grant Program has officially reached full capacity.

Thanks to the overwhelming response from residents, this program will help create more housing units within our existing housing stock—contributing directly to local housing needs and strengthening our community.

While we are no longer accepting new applications, this milestone highlights the program’s strong appeal and real impact. It has been inspiring to see so many homeowners step forward with projects that will deliver meaningful, community-led housing solutions.

This program was made possible through the Housing Accelerator Fund, delivered by the Government of Canada through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Without this support, programs of this scale would not have been possible.

A sincere thank you as well to all applicants for making the program such a success.

About the Grant Program

A one-time grant of up to $20,000 will be available to homeowners looking to build a subsidiary dwelling unit (apartment) or backyard suite at their primary residence or a tiny home on its own lot.

Eligibility

Eligible units included subsidiary dwelling units such as apartments, backyard suites and tiny homes. Applicants must be the registered owner of the residence at the time of application and reside at the property. For tiny home applications, an applicant must provide title documentation to the property where the unit is to be built.

To be eligible, the property must:

Be self-contained with a kitchen area and full bathroom.
Not used for short-term rentals.
Comply with all applicable federal, provincial and municipal legislation.

The grant program is not for repairs, modifications or improvements to existing rental units.

The property owner will have received a building permit from the City of St. John’s not prior to August 1, 2024 and the unit must have an issued occupancy permit by August 31, 2027.

Additional Funding

Up to $20,000 in additional funding was available to applicants that include universal design features that will improve the accessibility of the unit. More information on these features can be found in the application.

Additionally, successful applicants were eligible for a one-time City of St. John’s permit fees exemption, such as building, plumbing, and electrical permit fees.

An energy top-up to the maximum value of $3,000 was also available to applicants who installed energy efficient heat pump or mini split.

Apply

Applications for this program are closed.

Additional Funding Sources

This program provides an opportunity to align with existing provincial and federal funding programs that support the development of housing units.

Provincial Government Funding Initiatives

There are a variety of programs for homeowners, developers and non-profit organizations offered through the provincial government’s housing department, as well as other organizations. The following programs may be of value in complimenting funding received from our incentive programs:

Affordable Rental Housing Program for contractors, developers and non-profit groups
Newfoundland and Labrador Community Housing Growth Fund for non-profit, co-operative and indigenous organizations.

Federal Government Funding Initiatives

The following programs are offered through federal funding:

City-Owned Land

The City will develop a land disposition program to identify City-owned land and make it available to non-profit housing providers through a request for proposals (RFP) process.

Improved Internal Processes

The City will take a number of steps to improve its internal processes in an effort to break down barriers for developers and speed up development. These include:

E-permitting: The City will implement an e-permitting system to improve processing times for digital permit assessments, approvals, and fee payments.
Pre-Approved Design Concepts: The City also committed to accelerating housing development by providing pre-approved design concepts that meet our standards. The City has endorsed the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Housing Design Catalogue, which includes seven pre-designed housing options, ranging from backyard suites to fourplexes, stacked townhouses and a six-plex. Developed by architecture and engineering professionals, the designs align with local building codes and development regulations. The plans are available to property owners at no cost and can help reduce design time and costs. They are designed to be accessible, energy efficient and climate resilient. While generally aligned with local requirements, site-specific review will still be required as part of the development and building permit process.

Neighbourhood Plans

The City is developing four new neighbourhood plans to provide a clear road map for the future development and improvement of our communities. These plans identify areas for growth, set goals to improve local services and amenities, and show how neighbourhoods can develop in ways that benefit residents, businesses, and the environment. It helps guide decisions on things like housing, transportation, parks, and public spaces, ensuring the neighbourhood grows in a well-planned and sustainable way. Plans will be informed through public engagement.

Update Regulations

On June 25, St. John’s City Council approved a text amendment to the Envision St. John’s Development Regulations that will enable a greater variety of housing types in residential zones.

The text amendments will increase opportunities for densification across the City. This includes adding backyard suites as a permitted use in residential zones, increasing “as-of-right” development approvals for a larger variety of housing types, and permitting apartment buildings in more zones.

The City held public engagement on text amendments in April 2024, which closed on May 28, 2024.

For more information, visit the EngageStJohns.ca project page for the Text Amendment.

Advocate for Clear Legislation

The City will work with the province in seeking clear language around community benefits and Inclusionary Zoning related to rezoning applications in the Urban and Rural Planning Act. This aims to strengthen the City’s ability to negotiate with developers around including desired housing types in rezoning/development applications.

Timelines

The City will implement its action plan over a three-year period, with work already underway or complete on many of these initiatives, such as development regulation changes and incentives.

Naturally, items that require legislative change, such as the Mixed-income multi-unit developments incentives, will take longer.

The e-permitting will take approximately 2.5 years to implement.

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