by Steve Randall | 26 Jun 2019 | from repmag.ca

The federal government has announced a new initiative as part of the National Housing Strategy.

The next phase of the NHS adds $462 million of funding over eight years for the Federal Community Housing Initiative which will protect affordability for residents and stabilize the operations of some 55,000 units of federally administered community housing projects.

"In November 2017, our Government announced Canada's first ever National Housing Strategy, a 10-year, $55-billion plan that will give more Canadians a place to call home. Phase 1 of the Federal Community Housing Initiative was a critical part of this plan, and with today's Phase 2 announcement we are another step closer to realizing the vision of the strategy. Protecting households from losing an affordable place to live is a concrete action towards making sure Canadians have housing that meets their needs and that they can afford,” said Jean-Yves Duclos, the minister responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Continued support
Under Phase I of the Federal Community Housing Initiative, federally administered community housing providers with long-term operating agreements that have ended or that are coming to an end between April 1, 2016 and February 28, 2020, continue to receive the same level of subsidy currently provided under existing agreements until March 31, 2020.

Phase 2 of the Federal Community Housing Initiative establishes a new rental assistance program for federally administered community housing providers to support affordability for low-income residents and provide additional transitional funding for eligible projects.

"We welcome the federal government's investment in protecting housing affordability for individuals and families in co-operative and community housing. Today's announcement will provide these vulnerable households the comfort of knowing that their housing is secure for many years to come,” said Frank Wheeler, President, Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada.