Putting a priority on properties
Province identifying land that could be used for affordable housing
Some pieces of crown land could soon be transformed to create up to 500 new affordable housing units in P.E.I.
During Tuesday’s question period, Charlottetown-Victoria Park MLA Richard Brown praised the federal government’s housing strategy announced last week and said the program could mean up to 500 new housing units in P.E.I.
Brown also asked what the province was doing to identify provincial pieces of land that could be turned over to housing corporations to build affordable units.
“(500 units) would go a long way for helping a lot of families on Prince Edward Island,” said Brown, noting that the federal government has also indicated its willingness to use federal surplus lands for housing.
Brown said when he previously served on Charlottetown council, the city provided housing corporations with a number of properties to create affordable units.
Many of those are still in use today.
“It was a good idea then, I think it’s an even better idea now,” said Brown. “I’m just wondering what the department is doing to identify such properties provincially that could be used in housing.”
Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a 10-year $40 billion investment towards affordable housing as part of a national strategy.
Charlottetown is just one of many Canadian municipalities facing a similar crisis, with Mayor Clifford Lee having raised concerns about the shortage of affordable housing earlier this year.
Family and Human Services Minister Tina Mundy said the province was looking to identify parcels that could be used for housing.
“We’re currently in the process of discussing with our colleagues in the Department of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy about identifying other parcels of land within the process and formalizing the process on a ‘go forward’ basis,” she said.
“Housing services is always looking for ways we can collaborate with municipalities, with communities and with developers for long-term solutions.”