Skip links

Guest column: Feds need to fund non-profit homes to end housing crisis


Article content

In 1993, the federal government stopped funding new non-profit housing, putting an end to the last federal/provincial affordable housing program. Only Quebec and B.C. continued funding new non-profit housing, but neither picked up the federal share.

Non-profit housing provides homes to households that can’t afford to pay market rents. It is the only type of housing whose purpose is affordability.

Article content

In 1993, six per cent of the housing in Canada was non-profit, operated by government, non-profit societies and non-profit co-operatives. Today, four per cent of Canada’s housing is non-profit.

This compares to eight per cent across the rest of the developed world. At eight per cent, Canada would have 600,000 more non-profit housing units than it does today. Most would be affordable to households unable to pay market rents.

Today, Canada suffers the consequences of this 30-year failure to fund new non-profit housing — homelessness, households forced to choose between paying rent or buying food, adult children unable to move out of their childhood homes, employers unable to find employees, social discontent, and more.

As a recent report to Vancouver city council made clear, Canada desperately needs a new long-term non-profit housing partnership between the federal and provincial governments. They collect 90 per cent of Canada’s taxes and only they have the necessary financial capacity.

If the federal and provincial governments don’t get together and get to work now, all the problems of housing unaffordability and insecurity will just get worse. Relying solely on the market hasn’t worked and never will.

Article content

The federal government estimates that Canada needs 300,000 new housing units per year. If it is to achieve eight per cent non-profit housing, 10 per cent of those units will need to be non-profit. That’s 30,000 units per year.

It will take 30 years of sustained funding to get to eight per cent because housing is expensive and government revenues limited, and the construction industry and non-profit housing providers have only so much capacity. A longterm funding partnership between the federal and provincial governments is required to build capacity and spread the costs over time.

Capital grants of $500,000 per unit are required to make non-profit housing that accommodates low- to middle-income households viable. The federal government, finally and reluctantly, and B.C. are now funding new non-profit housing, but only at levels that generate market rents. Most of these units can’t accommodate low, modest and many middle-income households.

We need a federal/provincial non-profit housing partnership that provides sufficient funding so that those who can’t afford to pay market rents — approximately 20 per cent of all households in Canada — have a place they can call home.

This means an increase in provincial housing budgets — $1 billion per year in B.C. — for the next 30 years, and parallel increases in the federal government housing budget.

Yes, this would require a small increase in taxation, but it’s a long-term and essential investment that will more than pay its way.

Cameron Gray is a former housing director for the City of Vancouver.

Share this article in your social network



Source link

Leave a comment

This website uses cookies to improve your web experience.
Explore
Drag