Feds allocate billions to combat housing crisis, anticipated upcoming worker shortage
The federal government announced its strategy to combat the "significant housing challenges" currently facing Canadians, including putting funding towards "the urgent issue of encampments."
The federal minister of employment, workforce development and official languages, Randy Boissonnault, was in Edmonton Tuesday promoting the funding.
"Housing should provide stability and security and serve as the foundation for overall well being," Boissonnault said. "Instead, we see that housing options are limited, rents are high and home prices feel out of reach, and making sure that everybody has a place to live, it's the right thing to do."
Part of the strategy is increasing funding to the Housing Accelerator Fund, which helps cities increase the number of homes built every year.
"In Edmonton alone, we had a deal, $175 million. That deal alone, just in Edmonton, is going to create 22,000 new homes over the next 10 years, and we're adding $400 million to that $4 billion across the country," Boissonnault said.
"It's not just about building more homes, it's about building the infrastructure that you need to get those homes built."
Additional renter protections and expanding the housing design catalogue were also announced. The catalogue contains standardized, pre-approved housing designs aimed at speeding up construction.
A temporary accelerated capital cost allowance for apartments and increase from four per cent to 10 per cent was also announced to incentivize builders.
"We are launching a historic public lands for homes plan to make more land available for housing," Boissonnault said. "We're going to do this by identifying and building on public lands that are underused, such as empty office buildings or parking lots."
For first-time home buyers, the amortization limit for insured mortgage is being extended, added Boissonnault. The mortgage charter will also be amended so companies will be able to give renters the option of including their rental payment history in their credit scores.
"We're also making sure on our Canadian Renters Bill of Rights we're going to develop and roll out, in partnership with provinces and territories, that renters can see very clearly the history of apartment pricing so that they can bargain fairly," Boissonnault said.
"This is going to allow us also to crack down on rent evictions and create a nationwide standard lease agreement."
- Alberta waits for details of new federal housing money, reasserts its jurisdiction over sector
- Alberta premier takes issue with feds for overstepping jurisdiction on housing initiatives
An additional $1 billion for the Affordable Housing Fund through the 2024 federal budget was also announced.
"To address the urgent issues of encampments and unsheltered homelessness, we're going to invest $250 million through Budget 2024 to support municipalities and our fellow Edmontonians and Canadians right away," said Boissonnault. "We intend that this fund gets matched by provinces and territories, so it'll be half a billion dollars.
"We're going to have to be innovative, we're going to have to be creative."
Around 700,000 skilled trades workers are expected to retire in the next five years, according to Boissonnault. Around 200,000 of those workers are from the homebuilding industry.
"We're going to provide $90 million for the apprenticeship service to help create placements with small and medium sized enterprises for apprentices," Boissonnault said.
"I'm also going to have a $10 million fund for the skilled trades awareness and readiness program to encourage young Canadians, including high school students, to start a career in the skilled trades."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Wildfire near Fort McMurray more than triples overnight, several evacuation alerts remain in place
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Putin replaces Russian defence minister in rare cabinet shakeup
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Man fatally 'slashed in the neck' in downtown Toronto, suspect outstanding
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
WATCH Dashcam video shows terrifying near-miss on two-lane northern Ontario highway
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Edibles, armchairs and adapters: Here are the recalls for this week
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.