City of Prince Rupert Extends Fee Waiver Programs for Housing Developments and Builds to Revitalize the Downtown

Prince Rupert City Council is extending a pair of programs intended to attract new housing developments, and revitalize the downtown core.

Under the first, the City will continue to waive residential rezoning, development and building permit application fees for new housing units.

A similar waiver of fees for building and development permits, and rezoning-related fees is being extended to all builds in the downtown.

Both programs were initially intended to run for one-year, but have now been extended through the end of 2024.

Extending the programs was a key recommendation of the City’s recently passed Housing Acceleration Action Plan, which they hope will help secure Federal funding.

In addition to the extensions, the City has also put in place a new Downtown Revitalization Tax Exemption Program.

It will allow new developments in the downtown to apply for an exemption to the non-market tax increase for up to 10 years, while existing buildings can apply for a 5 year exemption.