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The City of Edmonton is taking an important step to increase access to student housing through a $15-million Downtown Student Housing Incentive, part of the Housing Accelerator Fund Action Plan.
The program will accelerate the development of student housing, while incentivizing new public infrastructure and economic opportunities in the city’s downtown area.
“Affordable housing remains one of the biggest barriers for students in Edmonton,” said Nathan Thiessen, chair, Edmonton Student Alliance (ESA).
“The Downtown Student Housing Incentive is a meaningful step toward creating a vibrant, inclusive downtown where students can afford to live, learn and contribute. ESA fully supports this initiative and looks forward to working with the City to ensure downtown is an affordable, safe and welcoming home for all students.”
The Downtown Student Housing Incentive is one of two new initiatives under the city’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) Action Plan, which is designed to help create housing that the market may not provide on its own.
It also advances the implementation of Downtown Action Plan by increasing the residential population downtown.
Applications for the program are currently open, with the first round closing on September 30.
Builders or developers must use the funding for new builds in the downtown area, and they must be able to show how the design is specific to student housing needs and projects can receive up to $30,000 in grant funding per unit of student housing.
Edmonton’s downtown is home to over 47,000 students according to the city.
Currently, students in Edmonton experience more affordability challenges than the national average with over 80 per cent of students who rent housing spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing, compared to 70 per cent nationally.
“Building more housing not only increases student access to more affordable rent, with a cap on rental costs for 10 years, but it creates additional commercial opportunities and more public spaces to meet this increased growth, ensuring a stronger economic ecosystem in the heart of the city,” said Alisa Laliberte, Branch Manager for Economic Investment Services.
“This fund is just one of the many actions the City is taking to help ensure all Edmontonians can access the housing they need and our downtown economy remains strong.”
For more information about the Downtown Student Housing Incentive Program, including the eligibility criteria and application form, click here.
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