On November 22, the federal government released the details of its long-anticipated National Housing Strategy. CHF BC and the BC Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA) were present at the announcement in Vancouver. The announcement was made by the Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development.

The ten-year strategy invests over $40 billion, which includes:

• Building 100,000 new affordable housing units
• Repairing 300,000 affordable housing units
• Protecting 385,000 households from losing affordable home
• Removing 530,000 households from housing need
• Providing 300,000 households with financial assistance through the Canada Housing Benefits

“We have waited a long time to be able to say that Canada has a National Housing Strategy,” said Thom Armstrong, Executive Director of CHF BC.  “We’re especially pleased that the strategy includes measures to end the insecurity for low-income co-op members whose subsidies end when their federal operating agreements expire. We are anxious to begin the important work of ensuring that all levels of government coordinate their actions and investments to maximize the housing outcomes for all Canadians.”

“We welcome the release of the National Housing Strategy which indicates to us that the federal government is ready to work with the community housing sector and sees strong value in long-term commitments to affordable housing,” said Kishone Roy, CEO of BCNPHA. “What will now be critical is for all of us to continue to develop new partnerships, and have all levels of government come together with the Community Housing Sector so we can put this strategy into action and begin to see real improvements in housing affordability for those who are most vulnerable among us.”

CHF BC and BCNPHA will jointly analyse the details of the National Housing Strategy. We will provide a more detailed analysis over the next few weeks This will include more detail on how the government’s commitment to maintaining subsidies for low-income co-op members will be implemented.

You can find more information here:

• The National Housing Strategy is available here for download.
• Response from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities is available here.
• Response from the Canadian Housing Renewal Association.