The City of Kamloops is reaching out to Federal Housing Minister, Sean Fraser, asking that the City be considered for any future funding that is connected to housing initiatives.
Councillor Kelly Hall says the letter comes following Kamloops’ unsuccessful application for $15.6 million from the $4.4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund.
“The fund was over subscribed. 179 communities throughout Canada received funding. Would anybody like to venture a guess on how many of those are in B.C.? 12,” Hall said. “My point is, there is more money that is available through the existing federal budget.”
Three of the B.C. cities that got money – Victoria, Campbell River, and Comox – are on are on Vancouver Island, with eight in the Lower Mainland – Abbotsford, Coquitlam, Squamish, Richmond, Surrey, Burnaby, North Vancouver, and Vancouver.
Kelowna is the only city in the Interior that got federal help, to the tune of $31.5 million.
The letter comes as the B.C. government has tasked Kamloops with building just over 4,200 housing units over the next five years. The City previously said it is likely to miss its targets for the first year, though the Province isn’t expected to issue any punishment just yet.
“I like the idea of including MP Frank Caputo [in the letter],” Hall said, when asked why not send the letter to all Members of Parliament. “I think that’s imperative but right now, I’d like to get this letter out the door as quick as we can just knowing that there are some funds that are available.”
Earlier this month, the federal government announced a $400 million top up to that fund that it says will help build another 12,000 homes across the country over the next three years.
“If we can get that $15.6 million, it would certainly help up with the infrastructure that is desperately needed in this community to build the homes that the provincial government is mandating us to build,” Hall said.