QUESTION PERIOD — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Housing Accelerator Fund
June 12, 2024
My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. In the Prime Minister’s itinerary for Monday, June 10, in Quebec City, a meeting was scheduled between the Prime Minister and stakeholders in the affordable housing sector. The official record published at the end of his trip unfortunately makes no mention of the details of that meeting. Senator Gold, could you tell us about the stakeholders he met with, the content of the discussions and the progress made on affordable housing?
Thank you, colleague, for the question. I don’t have a full list of the participants, or information on the specific topics of discussion. However, the Prime Minister and the government regularly meet with stakeholders in the affordable housing sector, municipalities, provinces and partners to discuss how the government can contribute to the development of affordable housing. For example, the government invested in the creation of more than 7,000 new, very affordable housing units, including housing for seniors, through funds for affordable housing. The government will continue working to ensure that every Canadian has access to the housing they need.
To continue in the same vein, in 2023, the first ministers announced the Housing Accelerator Fund, which provided Quebec with $900 million precisely to build the 8,000 housing units you mentioned, including 500 units specifically set aside for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. So far, how much of the money in this fund has been spent? How many housing units have been built? If you don’t have that information on hand, could you give it to us later?
Thank you. Honourable senator, since this is a relatively new agreement, I don’t have the exact numbers to give you.
I can add that, since 2015, the government has invested nearly $9 billion in Quebec to build, repair and subsidize hundreds of thousands of housing units. That represents nearly 20% of the federal housing funding in Canada. The government looks forward to building on the success of the recent $1.8-billion agreement with Quebec.
