Canadian Home Builders Association welcomes federal funding for homes in Kelowna – Kelowna News

The Central Okanagan chapter of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association has been telling anyone who will listen for the past few years that it wants to build more housing in the region.

So it’s no surprise that the organization was delighted on Wednesday when the federal government announced $31.5 million to fund 950 housing units in Kelowna over the next three years.

“Wednesday’s announcement is welcome and demonstrates the leadership position Kelowna has taken to meet the challenge of our housing crisis,” CHBA-CO President Krista Paine said in a news release.

“While I am confident that these changes represent a significant step in the right direction, it is important to recognize that they are only one piece of the puzzle. To continue working to address housing challenges, we must continue to address the labor shortage and encourage more people to pursue a career in the trades.”

The Housing Accelerator Fund will be used to, among other things, establish new housing partnerships and the provision of affordable housing, use new technologies to improve processing and data management, use city-owned land for affordable housing and promote housing development in the private sector.

The government said the funding will lay the foundation for a further 20,000 homes over the next decade – on top of the average of 1,830 homes between 2018 and 2021.