Questions surround federal housing funds for Calgary as city looks at repealing blanket rezoning

The body that administers federal housing funds says the money Calgary receives is not being paused amid a possible repeal of blanket rezoning.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said in an email to CityNews that while they are aware of the push to repeal blanket rezoning, “no official decisions have been made” on housing accelerator funding for Calgary.

This comes after councillors and the mayor received an email from city administration on Friday that read, “$129 million in future installments of HAF (Housing Accelerator Fund) funding are paused pending further clarity on the status of citywide rezoning.”

The email warned that if there is no clarity by March 31, 2026, the city’s third installment payment of $64 million would not be given. The email to members of council said that CMHC explained “there is some discussion room.”

Some councillors say someone is not telling the truth.

“I felt like I was misled or lied to at council,” says Coun. Dan McLean. “There were several times I questioned whether the money was tied to blanket upzoning; there were various responses, and then there were some flat nos.”

Mayor Jeromy Farkas said Wednesday conversations regarding the funding are ongoing.

“We are going to be continuing advocating with our federal counterparts about a made-in-Calgary solution, about ways where we can continue building housing that Calgarians need, but doing it in a much more targeted, community-informed approach,” he says.

The motion to repeal blanket rezoning will go to a full Council debate in December.

So far, Calgary has received $122 million from the Housing Accelerator Fund.