(rdnewsNOW/ Ian Gustafson)

By Ian Gustafson

Education on options

Panel of experts engage locals on housing accelerator fund grant

Jul 24, 2025 | 3:55 PM

In an effort to keep the public informed and engaged in regards to the Federal Housing Accelerator Fund, a concerned Red Deer citizen organized a town hall with a panel of guest speakers Wednesday night.

In front of a crowd of approximately 120 people and some city councillors at Festival Hall, those in attendance heard from the panel consisting of members who’ve been involved in housing development.

This comes after Red Deer city council unanimously rejected a key condition to a $12 million housing accelerator fund grant from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This condition was to allow four units as-of-right on all residential lots in the city.

Event organizer Gabriel Beck said the decision was made by council because of strong community participation and feedback.

This was especially so, he said, in the Parkvale, Waskasoo, and Woodlea neighbourhoods. However, he said the challenge of housing affordability persists and council has pledged to advocate alternative solutions with the federal government.

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“But questions and concerns still remain about what this could mean for our city, it’s existing neighbourhoods, and how future councils might approach zoning changes… My goal tonight is to provide a platform where perspectives could be heard, questions can be asked, and answers can be provided by subject matter experts,” he addressed to the crowd.

“My reason for organizing this event comes from my frustration with city administration’s approach to public engagement throughout this process. Many had felt our concerns had not been directly addressed. Public forums have often been structured in a way to prevent dialogue with experts or elected officials. Participants instead are asked to provide solutions rather than have a chance to ask their own questions.”

Following council’s decision on Monday, the city said they remain committed to finding ways to add more affordable housing.

Council also directed the mayor and members of council to advocate to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, Gregor Robertson and MP Burton Bailey to remove the federal requirement for four-units-as-of-right, while administration will advocate to CMHC for the same.

The four units as-of-right condition was expected to add 67 more units over the next three years. In total, the $12 million was going to be dispersed into multiple initiatives to incentivize 352 total units. Whether the remaining 285 units will be built, remains up in the air as well while the city communicates with CMHC.

Former Red Deer City Manager, Craig Curtis, who was a part of the panel of four experts, said the federal government should not make the city change its zoning in order to be eligible for the $12 million in funding.

He even called it an overreach by the Canadian government.

“The federal government should not be in a position to dictate how our city is planned,” he said. “Every city has it’s unique circumstances, it’s not one plan fits all. In Red Deer we have many sites in downtown, Capstone, Railyards, and the old Michener Centre grounds that can accomodate a diversity of housing types at higher density.”

He explained, the sixth condition, which is related to red tape reduction and the speeding up of development permits in providing more decision making ability to development officers, is a good initiative as long as it doesn’t compromise community input.

Curtis also said the seventh condition relates to amending zoning and incentivizing residential development in proximity to transit services.

The initiative calls for up to eight units per lot to be considered as discretionary use within 800 metres of transit.

“That includes many of our older neighbourhoods throughout the city,” he said. “This issue could be equally controversial to the four units as-of-right proposal and has not yet been addressed by city council.

Meantime, the town hall also heard from Lydia Kawun, a market researcher and president of Market Response Inc. from Edmonton.

She said it’s important for Red Deerians to take a stand when it comes unwelcomed new developments in their neighbourhoods.

For example, she said if an eight-plex goes up in your neighbourhood, you potentially have up to 30 new residents in the area which can put a strain on the sewer systems and other area infrastructure.

“One of the opportunities you have is to focus the discussion and demand to focus the discussion on your specific neighbourhoods because that’s where it belongs,” she said. “What does that mean for me? What’s going to happen in my area? Make sure your city planners do that because you have that power.”

Joanne Atkins, Director of Civic Affairs for Calgary’s Varsity Community Association, talked about blanket rezoning and how it’s affected neighbourhoods in Calgary.

Examples were showed of larger developments being built in replacement of perfectly good homes that are put up for sale and shortly after purchased and tore down. This is along with trees and other green space.

“We’re losing our affordable housing and these infills are selling,” she said. “I’m starting to get calls from my neighbours when a for sale sign goes up. They are having huge anxiety. When the developer buys the home, it’s a panic. We already have four roadhouses proposed in our community, two of which are in the state area, one of which is two doors down from the house that just sold for $2.7 million. These are not tear down houses. People assume it’s going to be the older housing stock that goes; it isn’t.”