Affordable Housing $$

Yesterday I was thrilled to be present in Council Chambers when a $5 million cheque for a 46-unit affordable housing complex in Peace River was presented to the North Peace Housing Foundation by our MLA, Frank Oberle. Many thanks to Frank, who advocated on Peace River's behalf for this much-needed funding from the Alberta government's housing initiative. A news release outlines some of the details of the project.

Also at the small gathering were representatives from the Peace Regional Affordable Housing Coalition, which worked hard to bring the issue of housing need to the attention of decision-makers, and the Town of Peace River. The Town's decision to donate land for the project was likely a factor in the success of the proposal and I'm very proud of Council for making that commitment.

How exciting that Peace River will soon have affordable housing options suitable for people living on a low or moderate income who have disabilities, are single, or have small families.

There may also be units that rent at market rates so that there are more housing options for people like seniors who are not eligible for subsidized senior's housing.

North Peace Housing Foundation will have its office in the building and there will be space suitable for social or educational activities that can be used to help build a sense of community within the complex.

The building is right on the public transit route, making it easier for tenants without vehicles to get around, and is within walking distance to a grocery store, several schools, and churches. A bit further, but still at a walkable distance for many, are recreation facilities, the daycare, elementary schools, and downtown.

I'll be eagerly awaiting the sod-turning for this wonderful new initiative!

Affordable Housing

I wrote the piece below ages ago but never did get it posted. Since then, Town Council has approved a plan to pursue provincial funds in partnership with the North Peace Housing Foundation to construct a proposed 35-unit complex that would include accessible units, ones rented at market rates, and units that will be affordable for people on low incomes. This is an exciting initiative that could help ease the rental situation in Peace River somewhat and provide much-needed housing for people identified in the study described below who currently have great difficulty finding suitable housing.

Here's the posting I wrote awhile back. Still relevant, I hope:

Brenda Brochu, co-chair of the North Peace Housing Coalition, and I did a news conference on January23 about the study I completed in August-September (prior to becoming a Town Councillor) for the Coalition. The report, entitled Final Preliminary Housing Needs Assessment: Peace River was funded by Peace Country Health. It reviewed the affordable housing situation in Peace River along a continuum of housing needs ranging from emergency shelters to affordable purchase housing.

Since this was a preliminary study, it relied on secondary data, such as an annual study from the Alberta government on rental vacancies in communities under 10,000 population, conducted in July-July 2006. (Partial results for 2007 are available at: http://tiny.cc/BGYWl.

Interviews were also conducted with a range of service providers in the Peace River area, and an effort was made to place the situation in Peace River within the larger Canadian context.

Although affordable housing has really hit the news over the past year in Alberta, the topic has been on the policy map for many years and alarms were being sounded years ago by agencies and organizations working with the more vulnerable populations in large urban areas such as Toronto and Vancouver. An early entry into efforts to bring the issue forward was a book entitled Finding Room: Policy options for a Canadian rental housing strategy, edited by J. David Hulchanski and Michael Shapcott and with a Forward by David Miller, Mayor of the City of Toronto (2004). It brought together papers and presentations from a policy forum hosted by the Centre for Urban and Community Studies in June 2003 on a new national rental housing strategy.

The Canada West Foundation published Over Our Heads: Affordable housing and urban growth in Western Canada (Dr. Shannon Orr) in 2000. In October 2007, it brought forward a discussion paper offering 10 considerations for addressing affordable housing shortfalls, entitled Building the Future: Public policy considerations for affordable housing in Canada by Karen Wilkie, Senior Policy Analyst. (A news release and the full report are available online at: http://www.cwf.ca/V2/cnt/release_200710191508.php

Building the Future nicely captures the environment that now prevails in Canada, even in formerly sleepy old Peace River:

The affordable housing issue is not new. However, growing demand, a scarcity of supply and a sense of urgency are elevating the issue on the public agenda, and affordable housing has emerged as one of the greatest public policy challenges facing Canadian communities. The factors contributing to the growing demand for affordable housing include the rise in housing costs (both home ownership and rental prices), the general rise in the cost of living (e.g., utilities, food and transportation), record low vacancy rates, and the growing gap between high and low wage earners. The scarcity of supply is explained by condominium conversions, gentrification, and urban population growth.

In June 2007, the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, based in Calgary, issued a report entitled Shelter: Homelessness in a Growth Economy by Gordon Laird. The executive summary stated that "Housing insecurity is a national concern, an issue that affects a broad portion of Canada’s population and reflects major trends in income distribution. In 2004, one in seven Canadian households – 1.7 million – spent 30 per cent or more of their income on housing and are considered to have housing affordability issues."

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities issued a call for a national action plan to end homelessness and deliver affordable housing this month. For the full report and backgrounders, go to: http://www.fcm.ca/english/media/press/jan232008.html And now Alberta has launched a 10-year plan to end homelessness.

Affordable and appropriate housing has come to the front of the agenda for all levels of governments quite rapidly over the past couple of years. This increased awareness is creating opportunities and pots of funding. Now as a community we need to find ways to put our own plans into place to address the needs of lower-income individuals and families who need rental housing, supportive housing, as well as ways into home ownership. It's a big challenge, but if successful, we will have residents with more housing security, which leads to greater social security.

If you would like a copy of the housing report, contact me and I can email it to you.