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Housing Incentives Program (CIP)

Before you apply!

  1. Read the Lakeshore Community Improvement Plan Implementation Guide.
  2. Book a Pre-Consultation with Lakeshore's Housing Team by email or by phone.
  3. Deadline for submissions is March 6, 2026.
  4. Apply online through CloudPermit Lakeshore's Online Planning Application Portal

The Housing Incentives Program - CIP is one element of the 2025 Lakeshore Community Improvement Plan for Housing and Main Streets and Rural Economic Development (Lakeshore CIP), which was developed to increase the supply of housing and encourage infill development.

Fund incentives range from $2,500 to $80,000 per unit, and are provided as grants, rebates, or forgivable loans, depending on the type and style of housing being built.

The incentives are available for properties throughout the Municipality of Lakeshore and are designed to benefit local residents.

The program is supported by Lakeshore’s Housing Accelerator Fund grant from the Government of Canada and managed via the Lakeshore Horizons project.

 

Housing Incentive Program Options

Below is a brief summary of the incentive programs available to residents and local developers. For a full description of the incentive programs, please read the Lakeshore Community Improvement Plan and the Community Improvement Plan Guide.

This program is intended to provide significant, upfront capital to bridge the financial viability gap for high-priority housing forms. It is one of the most critical tools for making otherwise unfeasible projects possible and getting "shovel-ready" projects underway quickly. This program is funded through the CMHC Housing  Accelerator Fund (HAF). Therefore, the program depends on available funding, and it will only be offered until January 2029 or earlier.

This program provides a forgivable loan for 100% of eligible costs up to a maximum of:

Tenure Ownership Rental
Missing Middle Housing1 $61,000/new unit $80,000/new unit
Additional Residential Unit $26,000/new unit $34,000/new unit

1 Missing middle housing includes the following types of dwellings: semi-detached, duplex, triplex, fourplex, townhouse, and walk-up apartment.

This program is intended to lower the initial barrier to entry and reduce the regulatory cost burden for new housing projects. The primary goal is to encourage a higher volume of permit applications in the short term.

This program applies to high density residential development that are zoned R3 (Residential – High Density), CA (Central Area), or MU (Mixed Use) in the Municipality of Lakeshore Zoning By-law.

This program provides a rebate of up to 100% of the following fees:

  • Planning application fees (e.g., Site Plan Control, Minor Variance, etc.);
  • Building permit fees;
  • The municipal portion of Development Charges for new high density housing units.

This program is intended to improve the long-term financial outlook for significant rental housing projects,  thereby encouraging larger-scale, private-sector investment that contributes to the community’s housing supply over the long term.

This program provides an annual rebate equivalent to 100% of the municipal portion of the property tax increment that results from the development or redevelopment project. The rebate will be provided annually for a period of up to 10 years.

 

This program is intended to incentivize developers to build more inclusive, accessible, and environmentally friendly housing that exceeds the minimum requirements of the Ontario Building Code. This program directly supports the goal of encouraging purpose-built seniors housing and units with universal design.

The program provides an additional "top-up" grant of up to $20,000 per project for the costs associated with incorporating:

  • Voluntary universal, barrier-free, or enhanced accessibility design features.
  • Voluntary sustainable building practices or zero/low-carbon energy solutions that exceed the Ontario Building Code requirements.

Book A Consultation

Application Process

Applicants must hold a pre-consultation meeting with Municipal staff prior to submitting an application in order to confirm requirements for a complete application. 

The intake period will run from January 19, 2026, to March 6, 2026, after which all applications will be reviewed and evaluated at the same time. Complete applications are to be submitted to the Community Planning Department (via online portal).

Applications for incentive programs must include the following: 

  • A Cover Letter, which must include:
    • An explanation of the person, company and/or organization submitting the application
    • Any sources of additional funding or incentives
    • Relevant details regarding the project 
  • Lakeshore CIP Incentive Program Application form (online via Lakeshore's Planning Application portal)
    • Project financial information sheet (template provided)
    • Detailed project schedule
    • Authorization letter to procure credit report
    • Copy of the project’s most recent site plan drawings and/or any other relevant design drawings
    • Any other supporting information requested by Municipal staff 

Once an application has been deemed complete, Municipal staff will review and evaluate applications and their supporting materials. The review process period will end on June 5, 2026. After the review, staff will recommend to Council or its delegate that the successful applicant(s) be awarded the funding. 

Applications for incentive programs will be evaluated based on the criteria outlined in Section 4.2.5 of the Implementation Guide. The Municipality may, at its discretion, assign scoring to the evaluation criteria without amending this CIP Guide. Where there are multiple competing applicants at the same time, projects that score higher in the evaluation criteria will be favoured to receive funding.

As mentioned in Step 3 above, the approvals process may take one (1) to three (3) months, depending on the level of funding being considered.

It is anticipated that the successful applicant(s) will be notified by late summer of 2026.  

For applications that are approved, a legal agreement will be required to be registered on the title of the property. 

The Lakeshore CIP funding will be provided to the successful recipient in accordance with the payment schedule of the legal agreement.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Who can apply?
    Applicants may be registered or assessed property owners, authorized tenants or assignees.

  • Is there a fee to apply?
    No. while there is no fee to apply, any costs associated with the application process are solely the responsibility of the applicant.

  • Can I apply for multiple incentives?
    Applicants are permitted and encouraged to combine ("stack") municipal incentives from this CIP with funding from other sources, including the County of Essex, the Province of Ontario, and the federal government (i.e., CMHC). To ensure transparency, applicants must disclose all sources of government funding for the project to the Municipality as part of their application.
  • How much funding is being offered?
    For Housing, the Municipality has allocated up to $800,000 of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) to the implementation of the Lakeshore CIP, to be administered through the available Housing Incentive Programs.

    Projects that have site plan approval or that have an approved plan of subdivision with registered lots and can achieve building permit issuance by January 1, 2028, will be prioritized, in order to meet the forecasted housing target requirements for the HAF.

Contact Lakeshore's Housing Team

Housing Team

419 Notre Dame, Belle River
Ontario, Canada N8L 0P8
Email the Housing Team
519-728-2700