Funding has been approved for three housing projects in Lethbridge. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Lethbridge City Council approves $1.81 million for housing projects

Feb 25, 2025 | 3:10 PM

A trio of proposed affordable and social housing developments in Lethbridge are getting a boost in funding.

Lethbridge City Council voted on Tuesday to conditionally approve funding requests through the Social Housing Capital Fund.

Mayor Blaine Hyggen says all levels of government need to be involved in the creation of affordable and social housing.

“As such, the City of Lethbridge has become more involved with the updating of the Municipal Housing Strategy, approving a Housing Solutions Coordinator and seeing a high degree of success with an Affordable and Social Housing Capital Grant,” says Hyggen. “Having a coordinated approach to housing allows us to make better decisions to actually move the needle for our community.”

A total of $1.81 million will aid in the construction of three projects that would result in 112 housing units, 82 of which would be held at affordable rates.

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• Green Acres Foundation
  • $1.1 million grant. Total project budget is over $22 million
  • To build 56 units, all affordable
  • Targeting seniors within a mixed-use development
• MyCity Care
  • $500,000 grant. Total project budget is $12.9 million
  • To build 40 units, 12 of which will be affordable
  • Targeting women, children and vulnerable individuals within a mixed-market development
• SettleEase Canada Foundation
  • Nearly $210,000 grant. Total project budget is nearly $6.2 million
  • To build 16 units, 14 of which will be affordable
  • Targeting new immigrants with short-tenure housing

The City’s Housing Solutions Coordinator Matthew Pitcher says supporting these initiatives makes financial sense.

“Being able to leverage Municipal funding with dollars from the Federal and Provincial Governments has already proven to be a successful formula for several ongoing projects. Through each dollar invested, we have seen a nearly $13 return,” says Pitcher. “With these conditional approvals, Council is also supporting housing projects with diverse target demographics and priority populations identified in our Municipal Housing Strategy. This is a major leap forward.”

The funding for each project is subject to conditions. The organizations will each need to secure funding for the remainder of their budgets by no later than June 30, 2026, and have development permits.

The City says each of the projects are at different stages. The Green Acres Foundation has secured and zoned land, MyCity Care has land that still needs to be re-zoned, and the SettleEase Canada Foundation has conditionally secured one of three plots of land needed for their scattered-site project.

Another application from the BIPOC Foundation was considered, but as they still do not have a site for their proposed housing complete, city administration says it will work with them to explore other opportunities.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now

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