Governments of Canada and New Brunswick Sign 10-Year Housing Agreement

MEMRAMCOOK, NB, July 5, 2018 /CNW/ - Families and vulnerable Canadians in need of an affordable place to call home can count on long-term funding for community housing in New Brunswick thanks to an agreement signed today by the federal and provincial governments.

The Honorable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, on behalf of the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Canada's Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and the Honourable Cathy Rogers, Minister of Finance, on behalf of the Honourable Stephen Horsman, Minister of Families and Children, today announced they have reached a bilateral agreement under the National Housing Strategy (NHS). This agreement, which will be cost-shared ?by the governments of Canada and New Brunswick, demonstrates a joint commitment to prioritize affordable housing.

The 10-year agreement will invest nearly $300 million to protect, renew and expand social and community housing, and support New Brunswick's priorities related to housing repair, construction, and affordability. The governments of Canada and New Brunswick will also work together on the design and implementation of a new Canada Housing Benefit for the province, to provide affordability support directly to families and individuals in housing need. The new agreement marks the beginning of a partnership that will be supported by long-term and predictable funding starting April 1, 2019.

This is a ?progressive housing agreement that commits the governments of Canada and New Brunswick to new and higher standards of transparency, public engagement, and housing quality, including improved energy efficiency and accessibility. The agreement also acknowledges the importance of prioritizing people most in need, incorporating a human rights-based approach to housing, and applying a gender lens to all investments.

Quotes:

"The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that every Canadian has a safe and affordable place to call home. Long-term, predictable funding for housing has been needed for more than a decade. Today, with the New Brunswick government, we have taken a significant step toward our goal of building strong communities where Canadian families can prosper and thrive, now and for the future. Our Government will continue working in partnership with New Brunswick and other provinces and territories towards a 15% expansion in new affordable housing units and renewing 20% of existing community housing units across the country." ? Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

"This new agreement with our federal partners will allow our governments to make a significant investment into New Brunswick's housing portfolio ? from bricks and mortar to programs ? in order to ensure our most vulnerable populations have safe, affordable and adequate housing options for years to come." ? Honourable Cathy Rogers, Minister of Finance

Quick facts:

• The $299.2 million? cost-shared investment announced today is in addition to more than $147 million previously planned federal housing investments in New Brunswick through the Social Housing Agreement (SHA) over the next 10 years. In addition to new construction, combined investments under the NHS bilateral agreement and the SHA will target the preservation of at least 9,900 existing community housing units in New Brunswick.
• The NHS is an ambitious 10-year, $40-billion plan that will remove 530,000 families from housing need across Canada, create 100,000 new housing units, as well as repair and renew more than 300,000 housing units and reduce chronic homelessness by 50 per cent.
• The NHS is built on strong partnerships between the federal, provincial and territorial governments, and continuous engagement with others, including municipalities, Indigenous governments and organizations, and the social and private housing sectors. This includes consultations with Canadians from all walks of life, and people with lived experience of housing need.
• All NHS investments delivered by the federal, provincial and territorial governments will respect the key principles of the NHS that support partnerships, people and communities.
• New Brunswick will develop and publish three-year action plans, beginning in 2019-2020, setting targets and outlining how it will use federal and cost-matched funding to achieve the desired outcomes.
• Since Budget 2016, the federal government has invested more than $110 million in housing in New Brunswick.

Associated links:

• As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. For more information, please visit cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.
• To find out more about Canada's National Housing Strategy, visit www.placetocallhome.ca.

SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation