Federal $115M funding deal could help build 40,000 homes in Vancouver, prime minister says

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government has reached a funding deal with the City of Vancouver that could see more than 40,000 new homes built over the next decade.

Trudeau, attending an announcement with Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, Housing Minister Sean Fraser and others, says the deal will "fast-track" more than 3,200 new homes over the next three years.

Fraser says the agreement will provide almost $115 million from the government's Housing Accelerator Fund to cut barriers to building housing.

A news release says the deal will allow for more high-density housing, speed up development processes, and put more housing near transit.

It says Vancouver will streamline rezoning and expand affordable rental programs, and the initiatives will "significantly improve the way housing is built" in Vancouver.

Sim says the deal is not a gesture, but a collective commitment to providing more housing.

The Opposition Conservatives saidin a news release that Trudeau's Liberal government is "failing to build anywhere near enough homes."