Outgoing Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark says the federal Conservative Party’s recent promise to cancel the National Housing Acceleration Fund (HAF) will put hundreds of already approved housing units at risk.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilivere announced Monday that if his party formed government after the next federal election, he would reduce the GST on new homes under $1 million.

Poilievre said he would fund the plan by cutting two government programs — the Housing Acceleration Fund and the Housing Infrastructure Fund — which he described as costly bureaucracies.

Conservatives say the measure would save Canadians $40,000 on an $800,000 home and spur the construction of 30,000 more homes in Canada each year.

Clark said he wishes Poilievre would reconsider his position.

“I think it’s worth trying to find measures that will reduce the cost of housing, such as the GST or PST, but there is a real risk for the City of Saskatoon to use funds from the Housing Fund. accelerating housing to achieve this. ” Clark said of the promise.

He argued that the city has already leveraged the HAF to approve 1,600 “absolutely needed” new rental units, including more than 500 below-market units. He said these units will only be built with the incentives used by the HAF.

The HAF is a dedicated $4.4 billion fund intended to encourage construction in cities across the country, with a goal of 100,000 new homes.

In late September, Saskatoon city council approved a plan to distribute more than $13 million in HAF incentives to real estate developers, as well as five-year graduated tax abatements of more than $3 million.

“To cancel this (HAF) when we have already put out the tender and we already have the proposals in place, it would lose all that momentum and even potentially create legal or financial problems that no one thinks,” a- he added. I want to take care of it now,” Clark said.

“It’s concerning that when you do all this work and you move very quickly to respond to a (housing) crisis, you might see a setback in terms of your ability to go out and build the housing.”

SaskNative Rentals and Camponi Housing Corporation – a non-profit that provides housing for Métis people – have secured approval for nearly $5 million in HAF money for two projects comprising a combined 184 affordable housing units.

Angela Bishop, chair of Camponi Housing Trustees, said the nonprofit projects wouldn’t be able to move forward without HAF money.

Bishop said the organization has 700 families on its waiting list for housing. She said the biggest concern was what would happen to these families if the funding was canceled.

“I mean they applied for affordable housing with us because they can’t buy a house. They don’t have the money to buy a house. So taking that away really isn’t going to alleviate the affordable housing and homelessness crisis that we see across the country,” Bishop said.

Poilievre’s office did not immediately respond to CBC’s request for comment on how he would approach cities with plans already underway, such as Saskatoon.