Ottawa and Alberta pen affordable housing deal, Calgary getting lion's share
Ottawa and Alberta are teaming up on more than $200 million in affordable housing -- and Calgary is getting more than half.
The housing was announced on Friday as part of the Affordable Housing Partnership Program, with the federal government matching Alberta's contribution dollar for dollar.
'In Canada, responsibility for housing is a shared responsibility between all levels of government, so it really requires great cooperation and coordination,' said Edmonton MP and Prairies Economic Development Minister Eleanor Olszewski.
'This is one area where we continue to see pretty significant partnership between the province of Alberta and the federal government,' said Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services Jason Nixon.
Nixon said the province aims to add 82,000 units of affordable housing in Alberta by 2031, including rent supported units alongside new builds.
'Taking a unit on that it would be in the open market and creating a rent supplement for that unit creates an affordable unit that would not have been affordable before,' Nixon explained. 'From the perspective of the department, new and rent supplements are the same thing.'
The announced funding will go to 25 new projects to create more than 2,300 new affordable housing units – defined as costing no more than 30 per cent of household income – across the province, including housing aimed at young adults, students and people facing homelessness.
Calgary will get the majority of the funding, with more than $117.1 million going to nine organizations. Five Edmonton organizations will receive more than $41.4 million and projects throughout the rest of Alberta will get $44.6 million.
No timeline was given on when the announced units would be completed or how many of them would be new builds versus rent supported units.
According to the Seniors, Community and Social Services 2024-25 annual report, the province completed 388 new units and added 410 rent supplements last year.
Since 2021, the report shows a total of 3,300 affordable units have been created and another 3,500 affordable units created through rent support.
CTV News Edmonton has reached out to the province for more information on how it plans to add 82,000 affordable units by 2031.
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