Six municipalities in Alberta County have reached bilateral agreements with the federal government “to accelerate the construction of more than 400 housing units over the next three years.”

The federal housing minister, Sean Fraser, said the six municipalities involved are Banff, Sylvan Lake, Bo Island, Westlock, Smoky Lake, and Daches.

“This work will contribute to stimulating the construction of more than 3,100 housing units over the next decade,” Fraser added from the mountain tourist town of Banff yesterday.

These agreements provide a total federal funding of $13.8 million, of which Banff Municipality will receive more than $4.6 million to fund five local initiatives included in its housing action plan.

Banff Mayor, Corrie Demano, said this agreement with the federal government is “vital” for her city, noting that the vacancy rate there is currently 0%.

Banff Mayor explained, “We have a shortfall of between 700 and 1,000 housing units in the city.”

The mayor added that this federal funding will allow her municipality to accelerate the building permit issuance process, explaining that subdivision policies will be amended to allow the construction of several types of housing in residential areas. The goal is to increase housing density, and thus increase supply.

These agreements are being made between the federal government and municipalities within the framework of the Federal “Housing Acceleration Fund,” which aims to ease administrative procedures in order to accelerate housing construction.

Sylvan Lake Municipality in central Alberta will receive the largest federal assistance among the six municipalities, with its share exceeding $5.4 million “to support its action plan that includes seven local initiatives allowing it to respond to the diverse needs of its community through different housing forms and densities,” according to the press release issued by the federal government.