As Alberta boasts record housing starts, minister lends Red Deer support with critical CMHC issue

Calgary had 27,684, Edmonton saw 21,337, in Grande Prairie there were 194, and Medicine Hat hit 317, all increases in the mid-teens.

They also note that Alberta communities make up six of Canada’s top 10 most affordable small- and mid-sized rental markets – Medicine Hat is third, Grande Prairie is fourth, Red Deer is sixth, and Lethbridge is ninth.

Red Deer, however, finds itself somewhat in the middle of a pickle on the housing portfolio.

As rdnewsNOW has reported, as recently as Jan. 13, the federal government and Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation are currently expecting Red Deer to return just over $3 million it received last year as the first allotment of a grant it had been approved for under the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF2).

The total funding for Red Deer was set to reach just over $12 million.

But last summer, the residents spoke up, and persuaded council to say ‘thanks, but no thanks,’ based largely on the undesirable requirement that the city must apply the funding to areas with four-as-of-right zoning.

Earlier this month, city council voted 7-2 against returning the titch over $3 million they’d already received.

To that, the feds responded by telling the city last week they are non-compliant and in breach of their contract.

Minister Nixon said Wednesday they are keeping tabs on the situation, and have offered help.

“We definitely support Red Deer. We definitely support Calgary. I understand what the federal government is trying to accomplish, in principle, [which is] about trying to create a regulatory environment that will continue to allow us to build fast,” he said.

“But we don’t believe the way to do that is to over-regulate municipalities. Instead, we want to be focused on finding ways to remove barriers to specific projects, but then also creating a way that industry can do their job.”

Nixon’s argument to the federal government and CMHC is that Red Deer’s case, as it relates to this funding, is the “proof in the pudding” that the feds’ approach isn’t working.

“There are very different circumstances in each municipality, and all the way in Ottawa trying to figure out how to do zoning issues, I think it’s probably very problematic long-term,” added Nixon, noting he can speak from knowledge being the MLA for 34 towns, counties and school boards.

“When it comes to Red Deer, I don’t believe Red Deer should give any money back, and we will continue to stand side-by-side with the mayor and rest of city council in their communications with the feds until we get this issue addressed.”

Red Deer Mayor Cindy Jefferies told rdnewsNOW on Wednesday that the city appreciates the help of Nixon, as well as that of Red Deer MP Burton Bailey, in helping them advocate to the Liberal government for a favourable solution.

Jefferies said that since their meeting earlier this month, the office of the federal Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, Gregor Robertson, has been in touch, and the parties are trying to schedule a meeting.

In the meantime, the money Red Deer is hanging onto lies in wait.

Earlier in the news conference, Nixon spoke about affordable housing being a priority, but it was also noted that builds take time.

He did reiterate, however, the government’s commitment to supporting an additional 25,000 affordable households by 2031.

Asked by rdnewsNOW about what the provincial government is doing to prevent gouging by landlords, Nixon explained that building up the supply is intended to quell that problem.

“This is the whole point of what we’re talking about today — the rent challenge is a supply challenge, and there are two ways you could address this. You could turn around and do something like rent control, which would stifle supply and in the long-term create a bigger rent challenge,” he remarked.

“Or you can focus on building and creating a situation so that the industry can do its job. We did the latter, and in 2025, Alberta’s rent decreased by nearly twice the national average – 4.3 per cent down across the province.”

Nixon admitted there will still be people who fall through the cracks as far as affordability.

That’s why, he noted, the government has invested $9 billion to create those 25,000 affordable spaces; and it’s why, he continued, they subsidize 82,000 units yearly.

Scott Fash, CEO with BILD Alberta, was also speaking at the news conference, and took a stab at the rent query.

Fash said they saw a lot of activity in mid-sized cities over the last year.

“A lot of these purpose-built rentals take 12 to 18 months to get online, so we’re still seeing the lag of that effect in those cities where a lot of the product is now being built. You are going to see those rental rates come down over the next year to year-and-a-half – it just happened a lost faster in Calgary and Edmonton.”

According to the National Rent Report published this month, the average rent for a one-bedroom space in Red Deer was $1,265, which was up 0.5 per cent from a year prior. A two-bedroom unit sits at $1,480, down 0.5 per cent year-over-year.

Today’s news conference can be watched below.

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by Josh Hall | @Vancan19

As Alberta boasts record housing starts, minister lends Red Deer support with critical CMHC issue

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