Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF)

The Town of Lake Cowichan was awarded an $885,750.00 grant from the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) program. This program, established by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), provides financial support that enables the Town to advance initiatives aimed at increasing housing supply and expanding housing choice.


Town of Lake Cowichan HAF Action Plan

Under this grant the Town has committed to implementing an action plan that includes six initiatives to meet the housing supply targets.


Completed Initiatives

Increased Density on a single lot – these zoning bylaw amendments were completed to align with the Province’s Bill 44. These amendments include permitting triplexes and quadplexes in the Traditional Urban R3 zone district, permitting duplexes in the R2 urban zone district, increasing lot coverage, and reducing setbacks amongst other changes.


Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) – ADUs are now permitted in the ground oriented residential zone districts, R-1 to R-6. This includes permitting ADUs in duplexes, increasing flexibility with respect to heights and setbacks, and expanding the range of types of ADUs permitted in different zones.


Rental Only Zoning – Council adopted rental only zoning for numerous properties in the Town with the goal to increase the number of purpose-built rental units.


Development Cost Charges (DCCs) – DCCs are collected for different categories of infrastructure: water, sewer, drainage, parks, and roads. These charges are intended to cover the additional load on the infrastructure resulting from new development. Council has created a program where market and non-market housing developments may request a grant to pay for some or all DCCs. This grant program is only available for affordable rental housing units.


In Progress Initiatives

To come


About The Housing Accelerator Fund Program

In April 2023, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) introduced the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) program, a $4-billion initiative that will provide funding to local governments to fast track the development of 100,000 more housing units across the country. The objectives of the HAF program are to:

  • Support the development of complete communities that are walkable, consist of appropriate residential density and a diverse mix of land uses, and provide access to a wide variety of amenities and services through public and active transportation.
  • Support the development of affordable, inclusive, equitable, and diverse communities that encourage clear pathways to achieving greater socio-economic inclusion largely achieved through the equitable provision of housing across the entire housing spectrum.
  • Support the development of low-carbon and climate-resilient communities.

Interim Housing Needs Report

In 2024, the Town completed its mandated Interim Housing Needs Report The projections are based on the provincial methodology together with a modified method that uses local rather than regional population growth rate to identify the number of housing units required to meet current and anticipated need for the next 5 and 20 years. The number of projected new units in the 5-year period is 179 and in the 20-year period is 777.