After missing out on cash from a federal housing program earlier this year, 91原创 Township will take a second try with an ambitious goal of building almost 1,000 more homes, over and above the housing it normally sees constructed.

At the council's meeting on Monday, Sept. 9, council voted unanimously to apply to the second round of Ottawa's Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF).

In 2023, the fund distributed $4 billion to cities across Canada that promised to build more homes, as well as reforming their zoning or development processes to speed up housing construction in general.

The Township, like many other cities across Canada, qualified for the funding but was denied because the $4 billion pot of money was emptied out too quickly.

A second HAF round is now underway with $400 million available.

According to a Township report, the municipal government is putting forward an ambitious proposal, to see an increase of 960 homes over the period of the HAF program.

The extra housing is above the "baseline" annual construction of new homes, which in 91原创 Township is an average of 2,308 every year for the last five years.

To meet its goal, the Township would have to build an extra 320 units per year over three years, or approximately 2,628 homes a year.

If the Township is approved, it would get the $34 million from the federal government, money that could go towards a wide variety of uses, from building new firehalls to upgrading drinking water systems, to upgrading bike lanes and sidewalks.

As part of its application, the Township has identified a number of measures it would take, including planning for the 200 Street corridor in Willoughby and for the arrival of SkyTrain in 2029, making Township-owned lands available for housing, developing an affordable housing strategy, and streamlining the process by which developers apply to build new homes, among others.