Wednesday morning, Kelowna MP Stephen Fuhr, alongside the Mayor of West Kelowna, Gord Milsom and West Kelowna Housing Manager Angele Clarke announced the City of West Kelowna has endorsed the Federal Housing Design Catalogue and has become one of 30 official Local Partners. West Kelowna is proactively supporting the Catalogue by pre-reviewing designs to support streamlined approvals—making it easier for builders and homeowners to plan their projects. Through the creation of development guidelines and updating policies and zoning, the City says it will increase the range of housing options available to residents.
The Housing Design Catalogue is part of a broader set of measures introduced by the federal government to double the rate of housing construction, restore affordability, and reduce homelessness. The Catalogue supports standardization in the housing sector through a library of more than 50 pre-approved low-rise housing plans to accelerate “gentle density” nationwide. The designs take into consideration the different building requirements across Canada and were developed by regional architecture and engineering teams.
“West Kelowna has been taking strong steps to increase housing in our community. It is city council’s priority to provide residents and builders with opportunities and incentives that streamline the building permit process and create diverse housing options for West Kelowna.” Said Milsom, “Thanks to the Housing Accelerator Fund, we have introduced several programs to help increase supply, including becoming a CMHC Housing Design Catalogue Local Partner. Through this partnership and the adoption of five CMHC designs, plus other strategies such as the Grow a Suite Grant Program, we are creating incentives that reduce costs and further fast-track housing from concept to construction and we encourage homeowners, developers and builders to tap into these new opportunities.”
West Kelowna also offers Housing Accelerator Fund initiatives to support building priority housing and utilizing incentive programs, such as the Grow a Suite Grant Program, to decrease financial barriers for the development of non-market affordable, infill and missing middle housing types across the City.
