PEISummerside council is pushing to pass a new bylaw that would give financial incentives to homeowners and small-scale developers to build higher density housing in a city that needs it now.Council wants to incentivize construction of more ‘missing middle’ unitsRyan McKellop · CBC News · Posted: Oct 08, 2025 7:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoBylaw could create more housing density in SummersideSummerside council is set to pass a new bylaw to create more housing units in the city. It would give thousands of dollars to residents and developers because, as Mayor Dan Kutcher says, housing is desperately needed right now. CBC’s Connor Lamont has more. Summerside council is pushing to pass a new bylaw that would give financial incentives to homeowners and small-scale developers to build higher density housing in a city that needs it now.The incentives aim to help build up what’s known as the “missing middle” — housing units that fall somewhere between single-family homes and large multi-unit apartment buildings.Summerside Mayor Dan Kutcher said there is an increased demand for housing in the city, and increased housing costs spurred council to push this new bylaw forward. “We’re really excited to be able to roll some dollars [out] to help people build and move into housing that works for them,” Kutcher said. “We need more options for people to be able to live places that they can afford, and the reality is, even with all the building that’s happening here in Summerside… housing is still really expensive and out of reach for too many of our residents, so we need to make sure we have more options for them.”Summerside Mayor Dan Kutcher says the high cost of housing means more options are needed for city residents. (Connor Lamont/CBC)Kutcher said the incentives laid out in the proposed bylaw are straightforward.”It will provide financial support for residents who want to build a variety of different types of housing,” he said.”If you are a resident or a developer that wants to build affordable housing, there’s some money there to help you get that done.”There are five programs to encourage people to build different types of housing, including:Accessory dwelling units like backyard garden suites.Affordable housing.Property redevelopment.Missing middle housing like duplexes and semis.Multi-unit modular dwellings — a trend in construction where units are built off-site and assembled together on a property.The city has about $430,000 it wants to invest, which it expects to help with the creation of dozens of housing units.Changing demandsCoun. Justin Doiron said the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the need for more housing in Summerside.Summerside Coun. Justin Doiron says he hopes the new bylaw will be passed at the next monthly council meeting, which takes place on Oct. 20. (Connor Lamont/CBC)”COVID hit and demands changed. And ever since, you look around everywhere and there’s cranes everywhere and construction happening everywhere for those bigger buildings,” he said. “But there hasn’t been as much of a spike in the middle.”Doiron said he is hopeful the bylaw gets passed at council’s next monthly meeting, set for Oct. 20.”There’s going to be that pot of funding, approximately $430,000, so hopefully we will be able to have developers and homeowners and local builders sort of chomp away at that,” he said.”If they use it all up, fantastic, that means we’ve accomplished what we had it there for. And if there’s still a demand for this type of of development, then certainly we’ll look at it at a future budget.”Summerside council approved four-unit builidings last year, which gave the city access to $5.8 million through the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund to help increase density.For the mayor and councillors, the focus is on what they’re calling “gentle density” — adding small growth into existing neighbourhoods.”I think there’s a fear out there… that there’s going to be, you know, big apartments going up in small existing neighborhoods,” Doiron said. “That’s not the case.”ABOUT THE AUTHORRyan McKellop is a graduate of the Holland College Journalism program and a web writer at CBC P.E.I.With files from Connor Lamont
Summerside housing bylaw would give cash to residents, developers to boost density
