Calgary committee endorses new $10K Secondary Suite Incentive Program

A new Calgary program could come as early as next month to incentivize safety in secondary suite development as the city aims to boost its housing supply.

A new Calgary program could come as early as next month to incentivize safety in secondary suite development as the city aims to boost its housing supply.

A city committee voted in favour of the Secondary Suite Incentive Program on Wednesday.

If passed by council, it could provide up to $10,000 to each homeowner.

"How many decades have we talked about invisible homelessness – people couch surfing, people living in your basement, already? Long story short, it's already happening. So this incentive is key because this incentive means that since we know what's happening, we'll have more safe units for those people to live in," said Courtney Walcott, councillor for Ward 8.

According to an outline of the program, it will allow eligible homeowners to be reimbursed for safety items in a developed secondary suite, including "installing a separate heat source and/or a makeup air unit."

In addition to the $10,000 for safety requirements, a homeowner may be eligible for an extra $5,000 for making a secondary suite more accessible.

An additional energy efficiency reimbursement will also be available for a maximum of $1,250 per home.