{"id":210,"date":"2024-02-27T16:37:37","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T16:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/affordablecoophouses.ca\/?page_id=210"},"modified":"2025-09-29T18:49:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T18:49:12","slug":"news-and-updates","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/affordablecoophouses.ca\/index.php\/news-and-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"News and Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Alberta, feds put $203M toward affordable housing across the province<\/h1>\n

Alberta and Ottawa have signed off on $203 million for new affordable housing projects across the province.<\/p>\n

Provincial Social Services Minister Jason Nixon says the joint funding will go toward 25 projects and see more than 2,300 units built.<\/p>\n

Nixon says the projects range from housing for young adults and students in downtown Edmonton to units in Calgary for those facing homelessness.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>4 levels of government meet on Edmonton homelessness crisis for \u20181st time\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

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By\u00a0Emily Mertz<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Global News<\/strong> March 20 2024<\/p>\n

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Leaders of four different orders of government met on Tuesday to talk about Edmonton\u2019s homelessness and housing crises, and possible solutions.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi sat down with Alberta\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is the first time that I know of that four orders of government have come together \u2026 to tackle this crisis,\u201d Sohi said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe were aware of the concerns before,\u201d Fraser said. \u201cBut 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?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Fraser described the meeting as \u201cpositive and collaborative.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe know there is a homelessness crisis that\u2019s impacted this city and cities across Canada,\u201d Fraser said. \u201cBefore Christmas, we made the decision to top up the Reaching Home program by $100 million.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cHaving the conversation around housing and some of the affordability issues, and the lack of housing throughout the province of Alberta specifically for Indigenous (communities) \u2014 increasing the standard of living for our people and the shortage of housing we have\u2026 through Treaty 6, 7 and 8.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI 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,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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\u201cUs, as Indigenous, being at the table and actually coming up with solutions on: \u2018Hey, this funding stream isn\u2019t working,\u2019 or: \u2018Our applications are being denied for whatever reason,\u2019 or there\u2019s a jurisdictional issue to be able to build these homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sohi thanked the ministers and grand chief for coming together Tuesday, and expressed gratitude for the province\u2019s new navigation and support centre in Edmonton \u2014 with its supports for shelter space and affordable housing investments \u2014 and the federal government\u2019s rapid housing and housing accelerator funds.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI 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,\u201d Sohi said. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The mayor said he wanted to declare a houselessness emergency to \u201cfocus more acutely on this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe have concerns about municipalities using the word \u2019emergency\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

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February 27, 2024 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance Canada<\/strong><\/h5>\n

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Government announces new action to build more than 5,000 affordable homes and strengthen competition to lower prices for Canadians<\/strong><\/h5>\n

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From:\u00a0Department of Finance Canada<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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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 Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced new action, as part of Canada\u2019s economic plan, to build more homes, faster, and strengthen competition to lower prices for Canadians.<\/p>\n

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To scale-up new homebuilding technologies and drive innovation in the housing sector, the government announced a $123 million investment through the\u00a0Affordable Housing Innovation Fund<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

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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\u00a0Contributions Program for Non-profit Consumer and Voluntary Organizations<\/a>\u00a0that 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\u00a0Competition Act\u00a0<\/em>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.<\/p>\n

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Today\u2019s announcements reflect the latest initiatives in the federal government\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cEvery 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2013 The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cTo 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2013 <\/em>The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cWith today\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2013\u00a0 The Honourable Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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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.<\/span><\/p>

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.<\/span><\/p>

But this endeavor is more than just a career pivot\u2014it’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\u2019ve seen firsthand how community service can drive meaningful change.<\/span><\/p>

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, \u201cYoung 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

We\u2019re 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.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Okotoks offers new incentives to build affordable housing<\/h1>\n
New incentives to build much-needed affordable housing have been approved in Okotoks.

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Robert Korotyszyn<\/a>

New incentives to build affordable housing have been approved in Okotoks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Affordable Housing Incentives Policy was unanimously approved by Okotoks council during its meeting on June 24, replacing\u00a0and expanding\u00a0upon the Town\u2019s Below Market Housing Incentives Policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Incentives include a building permit fee waiver and capital grant opportunities for projects that result in new affordable rental, supportive or transitional housing units.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Building fee waivers can\u2019t exceed 50 per cent of the fee, and can\u2019t exceed $50,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there are any requests for funding that would exceed these limits, then that would be at the discretion of council,\u201d Okotoks social planner Michelle Grenwich said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The policy is based on recommendations from the Town\u2019s Affordable Housing Strategy, requests from non-profit housing providers, and criteria for provincial and federal funding programs, the Town said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coun. Rachel Swendseid said the policy supports non-profit housing providers and shows other levels of government the Town\u2019s commitment to affordable housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThese 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,\u201d Swendseid said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With approval of the new policy, the previous Below Market Housing Incentives Policy was rescinded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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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 … <\/p>\n

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