Ontario housing strategy ‘ambitious’
‘Why should it only be for the wealthy to live in downtown?’ woman asks Christine Mounsteven says affordable housing has allowed her to live and thrive in the city.
Twenty-four years ago, Christine Mounsteven packed up and moved into what she hopes will be her last home, one that by location and through subsidized rent has resulted in an extremely high quality of life.
The former teacher, 83, is a member of the Charles Hastings Co-op and pays about $1,200 for a two-bedroom apartment, including heating and cable, on Elm St., just steps from the Art Gallery of Ontario. Mounsteven, who lives off pensions and asked that her income not be shared, said without subsidized housing her budget would be extremely tight.
“Why should it only be for the wealthy to live in downtown and have access to resources and be able to raise their children safely, to feel they are part of a community,” Mounsteven asked. “That is what makes a city, the diversity of income, the diversity right across the board.”
Mounsteven’s situation is considered an example of what is possible with proper investments in social housing, but a new report warns that the demand for affordable housing across the province is rapidly outgrowing supply and current plans to expand could fall short. An Affordable Housing Plan for Ontario, released Thursday, was created through a partnership between the Ontario NonProfit Housing Association and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (Ontario) and includes four key recommendations: The creation of 69,000 new affordable rental homes over 10 years; financial support of $10,000 for each of 260,000 existing social housing units over the next 10 years; 30,000 new supportive housing units for people living with mental health issues and addictions; and providing rent supplements or income support for 311,000 households.
“This is a bold plan and ambitious plan, but it has never been more needed and more possible,” said Simone Swail, manager, government relations for the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (Ontario Region). “Ontario is facing an affordable housing crisis and we hear about it every day in the news, but if we want to make real headway it will require significant investments.”
A 10-year, $40-billion National Housing Strategy was announced in November, building on Ottawa’s $11.2-billion budget commitment in March 2017.
The strategy aims to lift 530,000 families out of unaffordable and substandard housing and reduce chronic homelessness by 50 per cent. In April, the federal and provincial government pledged to protect social housing across the province, but the exact details about how and when the money will be distributed across cities is still being worked out.
Greg Suttor, a senior researcher at the Wellesley Institute, said the policy think tank has looked at the national plan and estimates the current funding levels will result in only about 2,000 new affordable units in Ontario annually. By comparison, he said, social housing programs in the 1980s created upwards of 6,000 new units each year.
As for the new report, Suttor said the targets are indeed bold, and in terms of overall dollar amount, would require a doubling or tripling of existing money or funding expected to come into the system through the national strategy: “They are considerably more ambitious than we are seeing under the National Housing Strategy,” but, he added, they are possible in today’s society.
The report outlines general strategies for accessing extra funds — one example is $8.4 billion raised over the last four years through the land transfer tax and non-resident speculation tax — but the actual cost savings and programs would have to be worked out by government, Swail said.
The proposed numbers could result in as much as a $1.1-billion boost in annual consumer spending, as well as an annual $1.1 billion in savings related to the health care and justice systems and $2.6 billion in annual economic growth tied largely to construction, according to the report. The report is being sent to all levels of government, and the authors hope the numbers will be incorporated in the larger conversation on affordable housing. Swail said Mounsteven’s life is an example of what can be achieved if affordable housing is made available to anybody who needs it.
“Thirty years ago, a government took a chance and built some new affordable housing,” Swail said. “All this time later she is still reaping that benefit and that is what needs to happen for future generations.”
Charles Hastings Co-op is home to 145 people, in 91 units, ranging from 9 months to 94 years of age and living off a range of incomes, including people relying on the Ontario Disability Support Program.
Being part of a co-op means being part of a community where people check in on each other, Mounsteven said.
She knows she is fortunate to have an affordable place to live, close to the art galleries she loves, friends, academic institutions where she can take classes and the health supports she needs to thrive in her retirement years.
“This is my home. It has been my home for 24 years.”
“Ontario is facing an affordable housing crisis … but if we want to make real headway it will require significant investments.” SIMONE SWAIL CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING FEDERATION OF CANADA