Mayors push Ottawa on social housing

Toronto needs $1.6B over 10 years to maintain units

OTTAWA— The mayors of Canada’s largest cities are pushing the federal government to commit new money for the upkeep of existing social housing units.

At a meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities big city mayor’s caucus in Ottawa Thursday, Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson warned social housing units will be “lost” if repair dollars wait another year.

“Even though new construction may be a year or two out, and so the dollars can be profiled for later budget cycles, the renewal dollars have been needed for sometime,” Iveson, flanked by Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante and federal Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, told reporters.

“And (the renewal dollars) need to flow in larger numbers this year. So we’re pushing very hard.”

Ivieon said it was a question of timing, rather than a push for new dollars. In fact, he praised the Liberals previous budget for meeting municipality’s infrastructure spending wishes over the next decade.

The upkeep of social housing is an issue acutely felt in Toronto, where city hall has to come up with $1.6 billion for repairs over the next 10 years.

Toronto Mayor John Tory said the city’s 2018 budget ensures that no units are slated to close this year.

Tory told reporters that $160 million “was required in the absence of federal money this year to ensure no units closed. But the bottom line is, this is a kind of cascading thing that goes on year after year after year.”

Tory said he hoped the federal Liberals will “repurpose” other funds in the 2018 budget to address the gap cities are facing on their repair bills.