Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham is calling for changes to the city’s zoning process in order to fast track housing construction.

The mayor says Winnipeg has a housing shortage and needs more homes to make them more affordable.

“This is a way to get housing built and get it built faster,” said Gillingham.

Gillingham is pushing for changes to the city rules to tap into some available federal funding for affordable housing.

The City has applied for $192 million from the feds that will go towards the construction of thousands of new housing units.

But in order to qualify, zoning reforms are required to get rid of what Ottawa calls “exclusionary zoning practices.”

Gillingham is asking council to approve changes that would permit the construction of four units on a single lot city-wide. The new rules would also allow up to four storeys to be built within 800 metres of frequent transit corridors, and allow mid-rise housing for mall sites and commercial corridors like Portage Avenue.

Gillingham said all would happen without the need for a public hearing or zoning application approved by city council.

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