The federal government has announced plans to spend $1 billion over the next six months on what it is calling a Rapid Housing Initiative to help address urgent housing needs of vulnerable Canadians.
Social Development Minister Ahmed Hussen says the program will only take applications for projects to quickly build or buy units that will serve vulnerable populations like women fleeing domestic violence, or people at immediate risk of becoming homeless.
Current estimates of homeless persons in Canada range from 150,000 to 300,000 in any given year.
The program, which appears to be a one-time initiative–will allow cities, provinces, territories, Indigenous governing bodies, agencies and non-profit organizations to buy properties being sold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Ahmed Hussen, left, and staff arrive to Parliament Hill during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa on June 2. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)
The federal government also announced it will inject an additional $237 million into its federal homelessness strategy, announced in April, that could be used to find additional emergency shelter space.
The government says the Rapid Housing Initiative announced on Monday, will also help support Canada’s economic recovery by creating employment in the housing and construction sectors and will create 3,000 new affordable housing units across the country.
“It’s the right thing to do, but it’s also the economically smart thing to do,” Hussen said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
“All the costs associated with the services provided to people on the street, the criminal justice costs, the health costs, policing–all of that is way more than the cost of that project. So we have to be smart as a country to always look for more innovative solutions to house people rapidly.”
The Homes For Heroes Foundation was developed in response to the growing number of military veterans who are facing a crisis as they return to civilian life and find themselves on the path to homelessness. (Homes for Heroes)
CP’s Jordon Press reports that Ottawa considered the property acquisition program for months as a way to keep people from falling into homelessness heading into the winter, with temporary shelter measures for the COVID-19 pandemic set to expire.
Tomorrow’s speech from the throne is expected to include new pledges on affordable housing and Hussen declined to say if the money will become an annual commitment.
Federation of Canadian Municipalities president Bill Karsten said in a statement that the overall funding is a good foundation, calling for “rapidly scaling up” from what he called important first steps.
“Municipal leaders are on the front lines of a Canadian housing crisis that has deepened through the pandemic. Most urgently, they have moved quickly to protect those with no home of their own, including people living with mental illness and substance use challenges. Many have leased motels or retooled municipal buildings to provide more COVID-safe shelter space, but there is a critical need for more sustainable housing solutions,” the statement reads.
“From Toronto to Edmonton to Calgary to Victoria, we have people living in tent encampments trying to maintain physical distance.”
“With winter, flu season, and a possible second wave of COVID-19 all bearing down, going slow is simply not an option.”
With files from The Canadian Press (Jordan Press)
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