City council approves spending $33M on two supportive housing projects
The City of Edmonton has chosen to start a pair of projects that failed to secure federal government housing funding.
City council's executive committee on Wednesday voted to spend $33 million from Edmonton's affordable housing budget for the projects in the Canora and Garneau neighbourhoods.
While another of the city's three proposed projects — a permanent supportive housing development that is under construction in Hollyrood — received both federal and provincial funding, the Canora and Garneau ones did not.
Both have secured funding from the province's Alberta Social Housing Corporation but did not garner money through the third wave of Ottawa's Rapid Housing Initiative.
Executive council heard from administration that if the city doesn't move forward soon on the projects, it risks losing provincial funding.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he believes spending the money now will get them started while he watches for new funding opportunities in the upcoming federal budget.
Sohi told media he's had a "good meeting" with federal housing minister Sean Fraser regarding funding.
"They're interested in providing more funding to the city to build additional supportive housing units, so we will continue those conversations," Sohi said.
Money from three rounds of the federal Rapid Housing Initiative has already helped fund the construction of 600 supportive housing units in Edmonton.
Work has already begun behind the scenes to purchase and prepare the Canora and Garneau sites, at 10111 154 St. NW and 11049 83 Ave. NW respectively, that will include almost 100 units with specialized supports.
Sohi said city council is committed to meeting its housing goals after declaring a housing emergency last year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
This Canadian restaurant just lowered its prices. Here's how it did it
A Canadian restaurant lowered its prices this week, and though news of price tags dropping rather than climbing sounds unusual, the business strategy in this case is not, according to experts in the field.
Concerns about Plexiglas prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglas barriers.
'Oh, there you go': Tyler Black, son of veteran broadcaster Rod Black, has memorable Major League Baseball debut
Canadian baseball player Tyler Black made a major splash in his first-ever big league game for the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.
Groundbreaking American guitarist Duane Eddy dies age 86
Guitarist Duane Eddy, best known for twangy riffs on hits such as 'Rebel Rouser' and 'Cannonball,' has died at the age of 86.
Facial reconstruction reveals what a 40-something Neanderthal woman may have looked like
Scientists studying a Neanderthal woman's remains have painstakingly pieced together her skull from 200 bone fragments to understand what she may have looked like.
Weight-loss drug Wegovy available in Canada starting May 6
The makers of Ozempic say their weight-loss drug Wegovy will be available to patients in Canada starting Monday.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Goring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Ontario man loses $1,500 applying for Nexus cards on social media
The trusted traveller program between Canada and the United States is extremely popular and almost two million Canadians have a Nexus card.