Government of Canada Announces Next Phase in Plan to Support 55,000 Families with Housing Need — Québec

Every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home.  That is why, in 2017 the Government of Canada created the National Housing Strategy. This historic $55 billion program is designed to cut homelessness in half, build more housing and commit to the long-term sustainability of housing in Canada.

As part of the National Housing Strategy, the Government of Canada is investing $500 million over 10 years for a new Federal Community Housing Initiative to protect affordability for residents and stabilize the operations of some 55,000 units of federally administered community housing projects.

Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) announced $462 million in funding over eight years for Phase 2 of the Federal Community Housing Initiative. Under Phase 2, housing providers will transition seamlessly to a new rental support program, which will start on April 1, 2020.

This funding follows the temporary extension of subsidies under Phase 1 to maintain affordability for Canadians living in federally administered community housing projects, as announced on April 4, 2018.

Minister Duclos also took the opportunity to announce that through the Affordable Housing Innovation Fund of the National Housing Strategy (NHS), the Government of Canada granted a loan of $750,000 for the construction of two three-storey buildings, each with 15 affordable rental housing units for low-income people.

Designed and built by Groupe LogisNov, each structure provides 15 energy-efficient affordable units, including 2 that are fully accessible. The innovative approach of the modular design, which uses only four faces instead of the conventional six, reduces the materials needed, shortens the construction time, simplifies the work of tradespeople both in the factory and on site, and lowers the total costs.

Quotes:

“In November 2017, our Government announced Canada’s first ever National Housing Strategy, a 10-year, $55-billion plan that will give more Canadians a place to call home. Phase 1 of the Federal Community Housing Initiative was a critical part of this plan, and with today’s Phase 2 announcement we are another step closer to realizing the vision of the strategy. Protecting households from losing an affordable place to live is a concrete action towards making sure Canadians have housing that meets their needs and that they can afford.”

“With the Innovation Fund program, Groupe LogisNov is pleased to take part in the federal government’s initiative to create housing that is more affordable. Over time, we have established a good relationship and good communications with CMHC’s Innovation Fund, which is our partner and helped us develop this great project. LogisNov is proud of our social involvement through this program. We also want to thank all the professionals and subcontractors who worked directly or indirectly on this project and, in particular, Locusi, our modular construction factory where our innovation was designed.”

Quick facts:

• Under Phase I of the Federal Community Housing Initiative, federally administered community housing providers with long-term operating agreements that have ended or that are coming to an end between April 1, 2016 and February 28, 2020, continue to receive the same level of subsidy currently provided under existing agreements until March 31, 2020.
• Phase 2 of the Federal Community Housing Initiative establishes a new rental assistance program for federally administered community housing providers to support affordability for low-income residents and provide additional transitional funding for eligible projects.
• Stakeholders, including the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (CHFC), the Canadian Housing Renewal Association (CHRA), Confédération québécoise des coopératives d'habitation (CQCH), Réseau québécois des OSBL d'habitation (RQOHl), and representatives of federally administered cooperative (co-op) and non-profit community housing organizations from across the country were consulted by CMHC in 2018 and early 2019, to provide feedback and input on the development of Phase 2 of the Federal Community Housing Initiative.
• CMHC will continue working with the co-operative and non-profit housing sector over the course of the National Housing Strategy to ensure the best outcomes for low-income residents and housing providers.
• Six months prior to the end of agreements, CMHC will reach out to providers to work with them on the new program and help them to prepare.
• The Government of Canada’s National Housing Strategy (NHS) is an ambitious 10-year, $55 billion plan that will create 125,000 new housing units, repair and renew more than 300,000 housing units, protect an additional 385,000 community housing units and reduce chronic homelessness by 50 percent, with the target of removing 530,000 families from housing need.
• The NHS is built on strong partnerships between federal, provincial and territorial governments, and on continuous engagement with others, including municipalities, Indigenous governments and organizations, and the social and private sectors, to make a meaningful difference in the lives of Canadians.

Associated links:

As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. CMHC’s aim is that by 2030, everyone in Canada has a home they can afford, and that meets their needs. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

To find out more about the National Housing Strategy, visit www.placetocallhome.ca.

Media contacts:

Valérie Glazer
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
819-654-5546
valerie.glazer@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca

Audrey-Anne Coulombe
CMHC
acoulomb@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

Backgrounder

Federal Community Housing Initiative

Canada’s community housing stock is home to more than 518,000 families and individuals (2017), including some of the most vulnerable Canadians. This stock was built under a variety of federal, provincial and territorial social housing programs that ran from the 1940s to the early 1990s. Community housing stock offers the most affordable housing in the country and is a critical part of our communities.

The Federal Community Housing Initiative addresses the federally administered component of the overall community housing stock comprising 55,000 units.

Phase I of the Federal Community Housing Initiative was implemented as of April 1, 2018 and will continue until March 31, 2020. Under Phase I, federally administered housing providers with long-term operating agreements that have ended or that are coming to an end between April 1, 2016 and February 28, 2020, continue to receive the same level of subsidy provided under existing agreements until March 31, 2020.

The objective of the subsidy extension (Phase 1) is to maintain low-income households, protect affordability of the federally administered community housing stock, stabilize operations of housing providers and ensure no net loss of the federally administered community housing stock.

Phase 2 starts on April 1, 2020 and will help stabilize the operations of some 55,000 units of federally administered community housing projects. This will be accomplished by providing rent support to community housing units occupied by low-income households, and transitional support for projects in need. Housing providers will be supported to transition seamlessly to the new rental support program with no break in funding. Community housing providers will be supported through a gradual process to meet standards over the life of the program agreement.

Phase 2 funding applies to operating agreements expiring between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2027. New agreements will be put in place as old ones expire, to ensure community housing providers will continue to receive funding to subsidize rents for residents in need.

Eligibility (rent supplement only) for operating agreements that expired prior to April 1, 2016 will be considered beginning in 2021. Criteria will be set in order to focus assistance to the pre-2016 projects most in need.

The Federal Government has consulted on the development of this new program with sector stakeholders and the non-profit and co-operative housing providers that own federally administered community housing.

The Community Housing Transformation Centre and Sector Transformation Fund will also support housing providers through the transition from Phase I to Phase 2.