Alberta, feds put $203M toward affordable housing across the province
Alberta and Ottawa have signed off on $203 million for new affordable housing projects across the province.
Provincial Social Services Minister Jason Nixon says the joint funding will go toward 25 projects and see more than 2,300 units built.
Nixon says the projects range from housing for young adults and students in downtown Edmonton to units in Calgary for those facing homelessness.
4 levels of government meet on Edmonton homelessness crisis for ‘1st time’
By Emily Mertz Global News March 20 2024
Leaders of four different orders of government met on Tuesday to talk about Edmonton’s homelessness and housing crises, and possible solutions.
He had been calling for such a meeting since presenting a motion to declare a housing and homelessness emergency in Edmonton. On Jan. 16, council passed a motion (9-4) for an emergency to be declared.
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi sat down with Alberta’s Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon, federal Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Sean Fraser and Grand Chief Cody Thomas of the Confederacy of Treaty 6.
“This is the first time that I know of that four orders of government have come together … to tackle this crisis,” Sohi said.
“We were aware of the concerns before,” Fraser said. “But when the mayor declares a state of emergency and invites me to a meeting, the answer is going to be yes. The only question is: when can we have everyone in the same room together to have the most productive conversation?”
Fraser described the meeting as “positive and collaborative.” He said they focused on how to improve coordination between all orders of government, reducing duplication, making sure the national housing strategy funding is accessible and building affordable housing more quickly.
“We know there is a homelessness crisis that’s impacted this city and cities across Canada,” Fraser said. “Before Christmas, we made the decision to top up the Reaching Home program by $100 million.
“We anticipate, in the next number of weeks, that community based organizations in Alberta will receive an additional $14.3 million in order to meet the needs of vulnerable populations.”
“Having the conversation around housing and some of the affordability issues, and the lack of housing throughout the province of Alberta specifically for Indigenous (communities) — increasing the standard of living for our people and the shortage of housing we have… through Treaty 6, 7 and 8.
“I definitely believe there was progress made on the aspect of collaboration and actually having everyone at the table and finding solutions instead of spinning tires,” he added.
“Us, as Indigenous, being at the table and actually coming up with solutions on: ‘Hey, this funding stream isn’t working,’ or: ‘Our applications are being denied for whatever reason,’ or there’s a jurisdictional issue to be able to build these homes.”
Sohi thanked the ministers and grand chief for coming together Tuesday, and expressed gratitude for the province’s new navigation and support centre in Edmonton — with its supports for shelter space and affordable housing investments — and the federal government’s rapid housing and housing accelerator funds.
“I was able to convey to the ministers that despite those investments, which I appreciate, we cannot continue to respond to the symptoms of houselessness and housing crisis,” Sohi said. “We need to invest in the root causes. We need to invest to alleviate poverty, we need to invest in tackling mental health issues, but most importantly, we need to provide affordable supportive housing for struggling Edmontonians.”
The mayor said he wanted to declare a houselessness emergency to “focus more acutely on this problem.”
“We have concerns about municipalities using the word ’emergency’ and calling emergencies and bringing no other solutions to the table, no other resources, and no other things that happen as a result of that that would impact housing or homelessness, in this case.
February 27, 2024 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance Canada
Government announces new action to build more than 5,000 affordable homes and strengthen competition to lower prices for Canadians
From: Department of Finance Canada
Today, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, joined by the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, and the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced new action, as part of Canada’s economic plan, to build more homes, faster, and strengthen competition to lower prices for Canadians.
To scale-up new homebuilding technologies and drive innovation in the housing sector, the government announced a $123 million investment through the Affordable Housing Innovation Fund, which will build more than 5,000 affordable homes. This investment will support eight innovative homebuilders to develop, test, and streamline the next generation of homebuilding techniques to build more homes, faster. New and innovative homebuilding practices will enable quicker, more cost-effective construction to build the next generation of homes.
The government also announced further action to strengthen competition and lower prices, especially of groceries, for Canadians. First, the government is launching a new call for projects through the Contributions Program for Non-profit Consumer and Voluntary Organizations that will help Canadians find more affordable, healthy grocery options. Second, to prevent anti-competitive mergers, the government is freezing the transaction-size threshold for the advance notification of mergers under the Competition Act for 2024 at $93 million. Freezing the threshold means a greater share of potential merger transactions will be automatically reviewed by the Commissioner of the Competition Bureau.
Today’s announcements reflect the latest initiatives in the federal government’s economic plan to build more homes, faster, and make life more affordable. The government is using every possible tool to unlock more homes and to strengthen competition to lower prices for Canadians.
Quotes
“Every week, our government is taking new action to build more homes, faster, and make housing more affordable for Canadians. This week, our economic plan is unlocking more affordable homes and creating new pathways to homeownership for Canadians. Today’s investment through the Affordable Housing Innovation Fund will enable innovative homebuilders to scale-up their revolutionary techniques and build more than 5,000 new homes, faster. And we are aggressively strengthening competition, particularly in the grocery sector, to lower prices for Canadians from coast to coast to coast.”
– The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
“To solve the housing crisis, we need to change how we build homes. The Affordable Housing Innovation Fund is supporting innovative solutions developed by 8 different organizations across Canada, which is expected to help get 5,000 new affordable homes built.”
– The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
“With today’s announcement, we are building on our commitment to provide Canadians with more information to help them make informed choices to access high quality and affordable food by leveraging collaboration with organizations. Our government is using all the tools at its disposal to closely monitor all sectors of the economy to make it as competitive as possible for the benefit of Canadians.”
– The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
At the heart of our mission is a commitment born from a personal experience: watching my grown children grapple with today’s housing crisis. This passion fuels our unique approach to creating sustainable and affordable non-profit homes.
With a robust background in architecture and construction engineering, I’ve navigated the intricacies of residential construction through my own business (1992-1995) and have since built a successful IT business over the past 30 years. My dual expertise in these fields equips me to tackle the housing challenge with innovative solutions.
But this endeavor is more than just a career pivot—it’s a heartfelt commitment to give back to the country that has given me so much. As a long-standing member of the Calgary Rotary Club for over thirty years, including roles as past president of the Calgary North Rotary Club (2005-2006) and current president of the Rotary Club of Calgary Millennium, I’ve seen firsthand how community service can drive meaningful change.
Across Canada, the housing crisis is undeniable and pressing. Many Calgarians find homeownership slipping out of reach. Federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser recently highlighted the urgency, stating, “Young people are simply asking for a place they can afford to live and the same shot at owning a home as any other generation. To do that, we need to solve the housing crisis.”
We’re here to be part of that solution, turning vision into action and commitment into results. Join us in transforming the landscape of housing, one sustainable and affordable home at a time.
Okotoks offers new incentives to build affordable housing
New incentives to build affordable housing have been approved in Okotoks.
The Affordable Housing Incentives Policy was unanimously approved by Okotoks council during its meeting on June 24, replacing and expanding upon the Town’s Below Market Housing Incentives Policy.
Incentives include a building permit fee waiver and capital grant opportunities for projects that result in new affordable rental, supportive or transitional housing units.
Building fee waivers can’t exceed 50 per cent of the fee, and can’t exceed $50,000.
“If there are any requests for funding that would exceed these limits, then that would be at the discretion of council,” Okotoks social planner Michelle Grenwich said.
The policy is based on recommendations from the Town’s Affordable Housing Strategy, requests from non-profit housing providers, and criteria for provincial and federal funding programs, the Town said.
Coun. Rachel Swendseid said the policy supports non-profit housing providers and shows other levels of government the Town’s commitment to affordable housing.
“These non-profit providers are working so hard to get affordable housing in Okotoks, and this helps relieve some of the finances in getting those projects off the ground,” Swendseid said.
With approval of the new policy, the previous Below Market Housing Incentives Policy was rescinded.