Mayors Of Edmonton &; Toronto Talk About Housing Issue

In the light of the country’s emergency situation that has presented itself, the mayor of Toronto, John Tory and the mayor of Edmonton, Don Iveson talked about effective ways to deal with the 1.5 million people that are in jeopardy because of the insufficient supply of a decent and reasonable place to live in. Both the mayors argued that the shortage of affordability will cause danger to the country’s productivity, livability and most of all the state of the economy in the distant future. Promising to have the 2017 budget is part of the measures taken to deal with the issue of housing affordability.

Both mayors noted down; “Progress starts with securing Canada’s existing 600,000 social housing units – a lifeline for people with disabilities, for newcomers, for low-income seniors. These homes depend on federal operating agreements that are expiring and without new investment, tens of thousands of vulnerable families could lose their homes each year.” Having supply included will also be a vital factor. The mayors made a suggestion;

“Learning from the past, construction of new affordable and social housing should be designed differently with greater flexibility to suit local realities, harness local solutions, leverage the expertise of existing social and affordable housing providers from both the private and public sectors, and utilize federal surplus lands. We [also] need smart investment to grow the sputtering rental housing market – to serve families at a variety of income levels.”

Likewise, it was agreed that there should be provision of funds to expand innovative tactics to solve the problem at hand. “Using funding committed to in budget 2016 for an affordable rental housing innovation fund, enable direct funding to cities facing the greatest housing challenges, as evidenced by percentage of households in core housing need and rates of homelessness, so that they can support local innovations for housing solutions based on local needs and priorities.” To be precise, any housing approach at the national level… “should include a direction and timeline to examine CMHC’s mandate regarding housing policy within the federal system and the role of other federal departments in delivering on the objectives of the [national housing strategy].”