The Affordability and Choice Today (ACT) program encourages housing affordability and choice through regulatory reform. Through projects carried out in municipalities across the country, ACT has generated a significant body of work and a range of regulatory solutions that can be adapted by communities throughout Canada.

Some new ACT solutions:

Evaluation guidelines for residential development

The District of Central Saanich developed guidelines to indicate what is and is not encouraged in terms of density, tenure types, access to services and methods to achieve community acceptance. Non-profit housing, seniors housing, guaranteed rental housing and designs that fit well within the existing character of the neighbourhood are recommended.

Affordable housing and parking stir NIMBYism

Across Canada, there are churches surrounded by underused lawns and parking lots that could, according to Toronto’s NUC-TUCT Non-Profit Homes Corporation, accommodate affordable housing. To win approval for rezoning, NUC-TUCT needed to address community concerns about traffic flow, garbage, utility management and the preservation of off-street parking for churchgoers and future tenants.

Developing small lot zones

To accommodate rapid growth, a limited supply of land and a growing market demand, the City of Surrey needed new zoning and development standards to encourage small lot development.

Reduced parking guidelines for non-profit rental housing

With costs ranging from $9,000 to $13,000 for a surface parking space and $15,000 to $20,000 for an underground or parking structure space, the City of Mississauga wanted to investigate whether any factors influenced parking demand for non-profit developments, such as provider type, client type and subsidy levels. With the assistance of an ACT grant, the City hired Beacon Planning Services to investigate parking in different types of public and private non-profit housing developments. As a result of the study, council approved reduced parking guidelines for selected types of public and private non-profit housing developments.

Downtown Residential Conversion

Nanaimo created a regulatory environment and financial incentives to facilitate residential conversion in the city’s downtown commercial core. "This project has been instrumental in breaking down barriers to downtown housing development and has launched an incentive program for heritage buildings…"

Building code options reduce renovation costs for inner-city housing

New Life Ministries received an ACT grant in 1999 to develop, with the City, building code options and renovation guidelines. Two inner-city houses, both built in 1905 to the same floor plan, were renovated, one to code and the other using the alternatives for 10 elements. Renovating to code cost $17,582; the same elements using the alternatives cost only $7,335, a savings of 58 per cent.

A unique single-family dwelling for a multi-family community

Whole Village created Greenhaven, a rambling, one-storey building of 1,421 m² (15,300 sq. ft.) with 10 suites, each with a private bath, wet bar (sink and refrigerator) and a private outdoor terrace.

Whole Village members believe their interaction with Town officials, and their input into public consultations, had a positive impact resulting in an amendment to the Town’s official community plan. The amendment updated the Town's policy on agricultural and rural areas. It spells out permitted land uses — for agriculture, environmental protection and rural economic development — and serves as the basis for the evaluation of development proposals within these areas.

Financing conversion of an institutional building to affordable, accessible apartments

York Region hired a consultant to review the feasibility and cost effectiveness of redeveloping an underused long-term care facility for residential use. At a capital cost of $8.4 million, the Region completely renovated and converted the 5,990 m² (64,500 sq. ft.) building, now called Armitage Gardens, to create 52 one-bedroom and six two-bedroom apartments.

These and other solutions are available from ACT’s website.


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