Elan Buan’s Post

🚀 Exciting News for Municipalities across Canada 🏗️ Today, the federal government of Canada announced a new $6-billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund aimed at tackling the housing crisis. What we love is the emphasis on the construction and upgrading of essential infrastructure, including water, wastewater, stormwater, and solid waste systems. This is a challenge we've heard ALOT of our clients and partners speak about, and it's nice to see some action. With $1 billion dedicated to municipalities for urgent infrastructure needs, the opportunity for impactful and sustainable development that goes beyond the immediate housing crisis is immense. BUT, there's a lot of areas where this could go wrong. If projects are rushed, communities could be left with infrastructure that's not resilient, fails to meet future needs, has unsustainable maintenance costs, or is just flat out poorly planned. Let's make sure these projects start on solid ground and work together to build a future where housing is accessible, and infrastructure meets the needs of our growing communities. You can read more here: https://lnkd.in/dRzd6Ac2 #HousingCrisis #InfrastructureInvestment #MunicipalDevelopment #dependbuild

The federal government began accepting applications for the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund this week. To be eligible, applicants have to: 1. Adopt multiplex zoning. 2. Implement a three-year freeze on DCC rate increases. It will be interesting to see which municipalities (and regional governments) apply. Full details here: #realestate #housing #development #construction #infrastructure #canada

Aimed at supporting the cost of #building infrastructure for new residential density and population growth, the Government of Canada has announced the new $6 billion Canada #Housing Infrastructure Fund – via ReNew Canada

I am enormously honoured to have won this year’s Hunter Prize from The Hub Canada. An enormous thanks to Sean Speer and Rudyard Griffiths for their vision in creating The Hub, and to the Hunter Family Foundation for their support of this valuable initiative. I cannot wait to see next year’s challenge and the innovative solutions that others bring to it. Many thanks to the esteemed panel of judges Jennifer Keesmaat, Amanda Lang, Mike Moffatt, PhD, Ben Rabidoux, and Evan Siddall for selecting my proposal as the winner. The main reason I won is by following the path laid out before me. I owe a particular debt to Michael Fenn, whose work I lovingly ripped off as the core foundation of what a federal government can do to affordably supercharge housing-enabling infrastructure investment. Many thanks to all of the others out there who have helped me on this journey. At its core, my proposal has a simple narrative: we can get more of the infrastructure we need to build homes by cutting taxes and reducing our reliance on taxpayers to finance infrastructure. We need to stop asking taxpayers (regardless of level of government) to pay the full cost of infrastructure upfront, and get cities to take out debt or use private investors to finance user-pay infrastructure. Water, wastewater, electricity, and natural gas are all fundamentally the same business, just delivering different commodities. Rethinking how we approach financing the growth we need in these areas can both improve housing affordability and build the right kind of infrastructure we need as part of the energy transition. 

Let's not forget that there is a temporal disconnection between when we receive new taxation revenue that results from new development vs when we incur the costs that result from new development. We get our new taxes right away. We don't incur significant capital maintenance costs for decades thereafter. One solution is to at least partially fund by setting up reserve contributions as soon as a new development occurs. This matches new taxation revenues to new costs.

Let's talk housing GROWTH 🤓 🏘 📈 How many towns and cities are adequately funding community infrastructure as development happens? And who pays for it?? Growth should pay for growth..........right??? 🤥 "The report, funded by the Canada Infrastructure Bank/ Banque de l'infrastructure du Canada estimated the average cost of infrastructure needed to support housing likely exceeds $100,000 for each newly built home. That includes funding for resources such as public transit, roads, water lines, schools, fire halls or recreational facilities." $100k CAD / $74k USD!! 😢 https://lnkd.in/dvNcTZdp

Our summary regarding Canada's housing infrastructure challenges: - Accelerated construction of housing-enabling infrastructure is vital to boost the country's housing supply. - The cost of comprehensive infrastructure can surpass $100,000 per home, straining municipal finances. - Long-term investments from both public and private sectors are imperative. - Proposed measures include shifting to secured-payment, ensuring cost contribution by all beneficiaries, reducing financial risks through innovative models, and adapting financing for diverse municipal fiscal realities. #Canada #HousingInfrastructure #Investment #InfrastructureDevelopment

Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund Launch: 1.) The government launches a $6B fund to boost critical infrastructure for housing. 2.) Development Charge Freeze: Eligible municipalities must freeze development charges for 3 years to qualify. 3.) CRE Opportunity: Lower DC rates mean reduced development costs, presenting a ripe opportunity for growth in the residential real estate market. The CHIF brings incentives that could shape a more affordable path for development. Are you ready to leverage these opportunities? https://lnkd.in/gxiPcXJ2

Canada is focusing on accelerating home construction, emphasizing the crucial role of increased investment in municipal infrastructure. According to a recent report by the Canadian Urban Institute, collaboration between the public and private sectors is essential to achieve this goal. The report, backed by the Canada Infrastructure Bank, highlights that the average infrastructure cost required to facilitate housing surpasses $100,000 per newly constructed home. This funding encompasses various resources like public transit, roads, water systems, schools, fire stations, and recreational amenities. #Canada #Infrastructure #HousingDevelopment

“Build it and they [the developers] will come”… There’s no doubt that infrastructure is a key barrier to unlocking more housing, especially in Nova Scotia.  Today, Dartmouth was the backdrop of some significant national funding announcements. Amongst the continued Housing Accelerator policy work sweeping across the country and $6B in funding announcements, the upcoming building code reforms, and pre-qualified development concepts (akin to the post-war housing boom) will continue to keep housing as a key topic of discussion around the table.  The federal government, with its new Canadian Housing Infrastructure Fund, will require the province and municipalities to quickly adapt and cooperate to tap into much-needed housing-related infrastructure dollars. https://lnkd.in/grmz_r4X