Canadian military feeling the bite of housing crisis

Escalating housing prices affected troops because of their unique lifestyles, which include constant moves throughout their careers

OTTAWA An email encouraging members of the Canadian Armed Forces to consider contacting Habitat for Humanity if they can’t find affordable housing is casting a spotlight on a challenge facing military personnel and their families.

The email was sent by a senior officer at 19 Wing Comox to other members at the Royal Canadian Air Force base on Vancouver Island, which is home to the military’s search-and-rescue school as well as several squadrons of aircraft.

“Further to our discussion this morning, one potential housing option for our folks is Habitat for Humanity,” said the email dated May 5. “Should this be of interest to any of your personnel, please have them review the information located here.”

The email, confirmed as authentic by the Department of National Defence, included contact information for the charity’s northern Vancouver Island chapter along with a list of criteria to apply for a home.

Defence Department spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande said members were not being directed to Habitat for Humanity, but rather that it was being presented as an option to those having “significant difficulty” finding housing.

“To the best of our knowledge,” she added, “this has not been an option presented or explored by CAF members in other regions of the country.”

But the email has highlighted growing complaints and concerns about the impact that skyrocketing home and rental prices are having on members of Canada’s Armed Forces — and Ottawa’s repeated failure to provide enough military housing.

Chief of the defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre warned last month that troops were feeling the bite of escalating housing prices and other costs of living as a result of their unique lifestyles, which include constant moves throughout their careers.

Eyre lamented a shortage of military housing, saying: “Now we’re somewhere in the neighbourhood of 4,000 to 6,000 units short on our bases, which is also accentuating the housing problem.”

Online forums are rife with Armed Forces members discussing the housing crunch, with some on the verge of moving desperate for advice on how to find affordable accommodation in markets where even rental prices are sky high.