Ottawa has announced funding of up to $5.1 million for the Town of Grand Bay-Westfield, the Village of Harvey, and the Town of Sussex under the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF).

Officials say five local initiatives from Grand Bay-Westfield will receive over $1 million to help meet diverse housing needs, promote increased density, provide incentives for affordable housing, repurpose town-owned land for housing development, and review infrastructure planning to meet future demand.

Grand Bay-Westfield Mayor Brittany Merrifield said this investment will assist in removing barriers to development, and increase affordable, missing-middle and inclusive housing.

Harvey will receive $840,000 to support its action plan of six local initiatives to help establish a regional climate adaptation plan, accelerate development approvals, promote alternative housing like secondary suites and build a new regional housing database with new mapping tools.

“The funding will also help us foster a developer-friendly environment that brings community support to achieving our growth objectives. We will be moving quickly to put these funds to work in Harvey Rural Community,” said Mayor Richard Corey.

Sussex will get the most of the funding, with $3.2 million for initiatives such as updating infrastructure planning, developing non-profit partnerships, providing permit-ready parcels of vacant land, more homes in neighbourhoods, promoting alternative housing types like modular and prefabricated, and implementing flood mitigation strategies.

Mayor Marc Thorne said he appreciates the federal government’s confidence in Sussex’s housing plan and commitment to ensuring that everyone who wants to call Sussex home can do so.

As of September, the Government of Canada has committed over $38.89 billion to support the creation of almost 152,000 units and the repair of over 241,000 units.