Apartment construction loan program getting boost

• The Liberal government has revealed another glimpse of what it will present in next week’s federal budget, announcing it’s setting aside another $15 billion for an apartment construction loan program.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the initiative is being called “Canada builds” and is meant to “turbocharge affordable apartment construction.”

The new money will bring the loan program’s available funding to $55 billion, the government said, and is aimed at building at least 131,000 apartments in the next decade.

The loan program was launched in 2017 and has helped create more than 48,000 homes so far.

“We’re going to make the entire pot of funding available for matching partnerships with provinces and territories who come to the table with ambitious and fair housing plans,” Trudeau told reporters in Toronto on Wednesday.

Those plans can include low- and highrise buildings so long as the money is used to build apartments “that the middle class can afford,” he said. Trudeau said the loan program is meant to ensure people can live where they work.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said that’s become a critical problem in her city.

“When we try to hire personal support workers, public-health nurses, parks and rec workers, childcare workers, EMS workers, you name it — we’re having a hard time. Why? Because they say they can’t afford to work in the city,” she said.

The government is also reforming the program to extend loan terms and expand financing to include housing for students and seniors.

The federal NDP panned the announcement and the strategy behind it, saying 97 per cent of the units built under the loan program are not affordable.

“Trudeau’s out-of-touch housing strategy is dominated by loans to for-profit developers that don’t help Canadians who need homes they can afford,” said housing critic Jenny Kwan.

And the Conservatives said in a statement of their own that this appears to be more of the same “failed policies,” pointing out that more than half the available funds under the apartment loan program are not allocated. The federal government appears to also have an uphill battle ahead to convince premiers to get on board.

Many of the government’s marquee policies — from child care and housing to dental care and pharmacare — touch on areas of provincial and territorial jurisdiction and require co-operation. That’s not been guaranteed across the country.

On Tuesday, Trudeau announced a $6-billion infrastructure fund to support homebuilding and a $400 million top-up to the housing accelerator fund.

The Liberals say the funding for provinces and territories will come with conditions, including adopting the recently announced renters’ bill of rights.