Ontario Construction News staff writer
Barrie city council has approved a new Housing Community Improvement Plan (CIP) in an effort to encourage rapid investment in new housing units by providing financial incentives.
“Council is committed to doing everything possible to help encourage the building of more housing in Barrie, especially more affordable and attainable options,” said Mayor Alex Nuttall. “We welcome Housing CIP applications from non-profit and for-profit developers to make sure we have a range of options to make housing attainable in our city.”
The following Housing CIP programs are being offered in 2024:
Per Door Grant:
- provides flexible financial assistance to incentivize the creation of more affordable and rental housing units. It simplifies the incentive process by providing one single capital grant in place of tying incentives to specific fees and charges, such as cash-in-lieu fees, application fees, development charges, or other charges. It also will allow the city more flexibility to assess the feasibility and merits of a specific project and offer more subsidy if it is warranted. Up to $10 million in total funding is available to award to successful applicants. This program is now accepting applications until Aug. 31, 2024.
Development Charges (DC) Deferral Requests
- can reduce financial barriers to the construction of high-density residential and mixed-use buildings, the city is allowing qualifying projects to seek to defer the payment of project development charges from building permit issuance to prior to the issuance of the final occupancy permit. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Tax Increment Equivalent Grant (TIEG) Program
- incentivizes the development of medium- and high-density purpose-built rental units by providing a yearly grant for a period of up to 10 years. The value of the grant provided is equal to the incremental increase in property assessment and municipal property tax resulting from the improvements. The grant is provided to the owner (registered or assessed), tenant or assigned third party, after the taxes have been paid in full. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Exemption from Planning Application Fees Program
- allows city staff to waive upfront select development services fees, including planning application fees (e.g., pre-consultations, zoning bylaw amendments, Official Plan amendments, site-plan control, minor variances, consent, etc.), as well as other associated administrative fees (e.g. zoning compliance letters) for qualifying affordable housing projects by non-profits and charitable organizations. Qualifying projects will automatically have fees waived; no application is required.
Learn more and access application forms at barrie.ca/HousingCIP.