FCM welcomes new federal plan to address the homelessness and housing crises in Canada

OTTAWA, ON, April 12, 2024 /CNW/ - The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) welcomes Canada's Housing Plan as it will significantly help to support Canada's population, including our most vulnerable, by delivering new housing to all Canadians and provide over a billion dollars in additional support to combat homelessness.

This new federal plan includes an additional $1 billion for the Reaching Home program and $250 million in much-needed support in response to homeless encampments. The government is also committing to extending the Interim Housing Assistance program and working with all orders of government to find long-term solutions to prevent asylum seekers from experiencing homelessness. This announcement responds directly to FCM's recommendations to address Canada's biggest challenges.

"Today we're seeing a promising step forward in tackling the housing and homelessness crises that affect too many Canadians", said FCM President Scott Pearce.

Investments in housing and infrastructure must be a part of a plan for growth. To build the 5.8 million housing units that CMHC says we need by 2030, existing infrastructure must be renewed, and new infrastructure needs to be built.

"Municipalities will work with all orders of government to deliver housing. We welcome new initiatives from the federal government and the provinces. But we only collect about 10 cents of every tax dollar and investments in infrastructure, most of which are borne by municipalities, which are critical to the efforts of building housing", said Mike Savage, Mayor of Halifax and Chair of the Big City Mayors' Caucus.

FCM also welcomes the acknowledgement that investment in non-market housing is critical to ensure all Canadians have adequate and affordable homes. Currently, Canada's non-market housing stock is only half of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average. Canada needs a significant increase in the number of housing units that are developed and owned outside of the private market. Today's announcement will help achieve that goal.

FCM is pleased with the addition of $1 billion to the Affordable Housing Fund, which follows last week's announcement of $1.5 billion for a new Rental Protection Fund.

In addition, last week the government announced a $6-billion new Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund to accelerate housing construction, including $1 billion in direct funding for urgent municipal infrastructure needs, and a $400 million top-up to the Housing Accelerator Fund. This support is expected to make a significant difference on the ground, particularly for the most vulnerable.

As municipalities are at the forefront of critical issues such as affordable housing and homelessness, FCM urges the federal government to bring together all orders of government to discuss a new Municipal Growth Framework that would provide more effective long-term support for communities, especially considering a proposed three-year freeze on development charges in certain municipalities.

"Now is the time for a bold, visionary and long-term solution to the challenges municipalities are facing. We're eager to see if Ottawa will seize the historical opportunity in Budget 2024 to convey a conversation with all the parties involved to equip governments of proximity with a 21st century growth framework to tackle them", added President Pearce.

In the absence of alternative sources of revenue, development charges provide a critical source of funding for the public infrastructure necessary to build housing and support growth. FCM is concerned about the proposal to freeze municipal development charges in certain municipalities for three years.

FCM will continue working closely with the federal government to design and implement these new and expanded programs announced in recent weeks, which will support the best outcomes for municipalities nationwide, and look forward to more details when Budget 2024 is released on April 16.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is the national voice of municipal governments, with over 2,100 members representing more than 92 per cent of the Canadian population.

SOURCE FEDERATION OF CANADIAN MUNICIPALITIES