In a news release Thursday, Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre said the governing Liberals have spent almost $8 million on local housing projects since 2016.
The spending includes $4.7 million to extend non-profit and co-operative housing agreements in Sudbury; $2.8 million directly to social housing in Sudbury through the Reno and Retrofit Social Infrastructure Fund; $195,000 directly to seniors in 2017-2018 through the Affordable Housing for Seniors Social
Infrastructure Fund; and, $318,000 for on-reserve housing through the First Nations Reno & Retrofit Social Infrastructure Fund.
As well, more than $11 million has been invested in First Nation’s in Non-Profit On-Reserve housing in the riding of Timmins-James Bay since 2016, the release said.
Speaking on behalf of the Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Lefebvre said Sudburians made it clear they needed housing help from the federal government.
“And that’s exactly what our government has been doing and will continue to do,” he's quoted as saying in the release. “I’m proud of these investments and I look forward to working with community partners here in Sudbury to advance affordable housing in the future.”
Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré said in his release that his riding has received more than $3.1 million for middle-class families “and those working hard to join it.
“I am proud that our government is committed to making housing more affordable for all Canadians, including for families, seniors, Indigenous people, veterans, persons with disabilities, persons with mental health and addiction issues and young adults in Nickel Belt-Greater Sudbury,” Serré is quoted as saying.
“We will build on this success in the years to come and work toward a better tomorrow for a brighter future for all Canadians. When people have a safe and affordable place to call to home, it enables them to focus on other goals, be successful and get ahead.”
Since 2016, the feds have invested more than $5.7 billion across Canada, investments that have helped “almost a million families, seniors, women and children fleeing domestic violence, Indigenous people, persons with disabilities, persons with mental health and addiction issues, veterans and young adults,” the release said.
“We are working to make sure every Canadian has access to a safe and affordable place to call home,” Duclos said in the release. “We are committed to making housing more affordable and thanks to the investments made by the Government of Canada, almost one million families across Canada have an affordable home. Canada’s first ever National Housing Strategy, a $40 billion plan, will build on this success in the years to come.”
In Ontario, the feds have spent $2 billion to support more than 300,000 families since 2016. These results are now being followed by a first-ever National Housing Strategy that gives additional, stable, longer-term funds to Canada’s affordable housing sector, the release said.
“The National Housing Strategy will result in more than $40 billion of housing investment and more than half a million families being brought out of housing need.”
The strategy will subsidize 385,000 existing housing units, repair 300,000 affordable homes, build another 100,000, and provide direct support for those in housing need.
The goal of the strategy is reduce chronic homelessness by 50 per cent and “entrench a human rights-based approach to housing in Canada.”
To find out more about the National Housing Strategy, visit www.placetocallhome.ca.
