As the federal government cuts housing funding to Toronto, Vaughan, Ont. and Red Deer, Alta., the cities’ mayors say they’re disappointed but remain committed to building more homes.
Housing Minister Gregor Robertson said in a letter dated Friday that Toronto showed some progress, but because the municipality is not permitting sixplexes citywide, its funding from the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) has been reduced from $471 million to $461 million.
The HAF launched in 2023 as a way for municipalities to use federal money to speed up housing construction, while removing barriers in areas like planning and development approvals. It has several requirements, including multi-unit construction.
Toronto city council voted last year to only allow sixplexes without public consultations in certain wards
Mayor Olivia Chow’s office said in a statement she’s still committed to building more homes, including breaking ground on 28,000 rental units next year.
“Mayor Chow is leading on delivering more housing through zoning changes and building thousands of affordable homes,” an emailed statement from Chow’s office reads.
“Mayor Chow will continue to work with Minister Robertson and partner with the Federal Government to build more housing for people.”
That stance was echoed by Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca, who told Global News in an email that his city would continue working with the federal government after $7.4 million was cut.
“I understand the shared goal we have of delivering much needed housing, but I am disappointed that the federal government did not appear to consider Vaughan’s leadership in reducing residential development charges by nearly 50 per cent, and our decision to streamline approvals by approving a ‘three strikes and you’re in’ approach to site plan approvals,” Del Duca wrote.
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Del Duca added Vaughan had met the “overwhelming majority” of commitments under the HAF and were on track to deliver the remaining initiatives.
Red Deer also says it wants to work with the government, but told Global News on Friday it’s not giving back the money just yet.
The CMHC said in its decision on Friday that the $12 million in HAF funding originally signed in February 2025 was cancelled. As of July 21, 2025, it said, the city was found non-compliant with a mandatory requirement of the HAF’s second funding round.
According to city council documents, that second round was conditional on Red Deer adopting zoning rules to allow “four units as of right” on a single residential property.
The city council supported a motion in July to not move ahead with those changes, a move the CMHC said put them into non-compliance.
“I am hopeful that that doesn’t mean an end to this conversation, but rather invites us to submit an addendum or a new application that might us help our needs and also help them deliver that money to our communities,” said Mayor Cindy Jefferies.
Jefferies told Global News that residents made it clear they did not want to see zoning rules changed.
“I think our frustration has been around, we’ve sent a few letters … and haven’t had a response until this week and those letters would go back to quite a few months,” Jefferies said. “So we’re just wanting a conversation to explain the situation in our community and to say, you know what, the application we put forward for this funding, we can still deliver on the pieces that we put in our application. We just can’t manage to get blanket zoning through for our city.”
Last week, Red Deer voted in favour a motion that said the HAF funding would not be returned until a “discussion has occurred” with Robertson.
The three cities are the latest to see their funding cut or cancelled, with Tecumseh, Ont., losing $3.2 million late last month.
Communities receive funding through submitted action plans, the CMHC told Global News, but if they aren’t adhered to there can be consequences such as reductions or terminated.
There are more than 200 communities receiving funding from the HAF, ranging from small towns to big cities.
—with files from Global News’ Adam MacVicar and Prisha Dev
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
