Province will fight for ‘more than our fair share’ of funding
The federal government has budgeted $11.2 billion toward affordable housing in Canada, but it remains to be seen what B.C.’s cut will be.
B.C. Housing previously said it hoped to receive about $233 million, while provincial Finance Minister Mike de Jon gs aid Wednesday he still expects B.C. to receive its fair share — and perhaps more.
“We expect our fair share and we will work hard to secure more than our fair share,” de Jong said.
On Wednesday, the federal government announced $11.2 billion would be budgeted countrywide over the next decade as part of the second wave of its infrastructure program.
De Jong said he was pleased to see the federal government’s “reengagement” on the housing issue.
“I think what the federal government will expect and hear from us (will be taking) into account some of the unique pressures that exist here in the Metro Vancouver housing market,” he said.
Ottawa also promised a new national database of all housing properties across Canada, known as the Housing Statistics Framework, which will track details on purchases, sales, demographics, financing, and foreign ownership. That database will be taken on by Statistics Canada, bolstered by $39.9 million from the federal government’s housing budget announced Wednesday. There had previously been little official data recorded on the rates and effects of foreign ownership, which has often been cited as a factor in B.C.’s red-hot housing market, and was targeted by the provincial government’s foreign buyers’ tax established last year.
Around $5 billion of the housing budget will go toward encouraging housing providers to pool resources with private partners to pay for new projects.
However, the funding still falls short of the $12.6 billion the mayors of Canada’s biggest cities requested last year.
Wednesday’s federal budget also shows the majority of the $11.2 billion isn’t slated to be spent until after 2022.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said he was “particularly pleased” to see the amount that had been earmarked for housing. He noted Vancouver has 20 plots of city-owned land ready for development as a part of the federal push for public-private partnerships for affordable housing.
“These federal dollars and support need to flow urgently to bring relief to the tremendous pressure facing residents across Vancouver who struggle to access housing,” Robertson said in a statement Wednesday.
“Cities across Canada are ready to work swiftly with the federal government to support the implementation of a new National Housing Strategy when it’s put forward in the coming months.”