The federal government unveiled a billion-dollar initiative Monday to fund modular construction projects and the acquisition of land or existing properties to use as affordable housing — though the money is less than one-third of what was requested by municipalities.
“It was not a question of landing on a perfect dollar amount. It was the urgency of getting those dollars into the hands of municipalities right now,” said Toronto
MP Adam Vaughan, speaking alongside Families, Children and Social Development Minister Ahmed Hussen in Toronto. “We’ve jump-started the conversation with cities with an immediate investment of a billion-two — with more to come.”
Earlier this month, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities outlined an ask of $3.5 billion from the feds to acquire an estimated 12,000-plus properties across the country — motels, hotels, rooming houses and other sites that could be converted to supportive and “deeply affordable” housing.
The initiative announced by Hussen and Vaughan on Monday morning aims to create up to 3,000 units through acquisition and renovation, as well as other channels such as modular construction, though Hussen noted any extra money put forward by bodies like the provincial government or individual non-profit organizations could lead to a higher unit count.
The program will be delivered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and require whichever group is applying for funds to submit an application demonstrating that pitched project can be accomplished quickly, and serve one or more vulnerable groups.
In most cases, that means a project needs to be accomplishable within one year or less, Hussen told the Star, though he noted some exceptions will apply for remote communities. Projects can be submitted as a package or individually, Hussen added. Funding for all the approved rapid-housing work is expected to be committed by March 31, 2021.
The announcement was welcome news to Toronto Coun. Ana Bailao, the mayor’s advocate for affordable housing, though she cautioned it is only a first step. “The fact they want all this committed by March 2021, it’s clearly something to be done right now, and what I’m seeing is the conversation will continue and the opportunities will continue,” she said.
Mayor John Tory, in an interview with the Star last week, said he’d like to see the city move forward with acquiring properties that could be used as permanent, supportive housing the day after a potential federal program was rolled out.
Tory, too, called the news a “good start.” But, he said a billion dollars spread between all the Canadian municipalities for rapid affordable housing development “will be not enough to help us really get at the problem of supportive housing in the way that we have to.” With files from David Rider
Victoria Gibson is a Toronto-based reporter for the Star covering affordable housing. Her reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. Reach her via email: victoriagibson@thestar.ca