Toronto Star: Making the most of housing dollars

Ottawa and the provinces say they’ll work together again to fund new affordable housing. With 1.5 million Canadians in desperate need of a place to live where they can afford the rent, governments may have expected substantial cheering to follow their announcement this week. There was little — and for good reason.

This federal commitment of $700 million, to be matched by provinces or housing providers, has been sitting in a bank since 2008 when it was first promised. All the while, impoverished families have relied on food banks to stretch their budget, faced eviction proceedings when that failed and resorted to homeless shelters.

Given such need, this slow response is inexcusable. Worse still, the amount put forward to fix the problem is ridiculously low. Ottawa’s $700 million is not enough to fix the affordable housing crisis in Toronto, let alone the entire country. This is akin to racing to a blazing house fire with a leaky garden hose.

Ottawa and the provinces say they’ll work together again to fund new affordable housing. With 1.5 million Canadians in desperate need of a place to live where they can afford the rent, governments may have expected substantial cheering to follow their announcement this week. There was little — and for good reason.

This federal commitment of $700 million, to be matched by provinces or housing providers, has been sitting in a bank since 2008 when it was first promised. All the while, impoverished families have relied on food banks to stretch their budget, faced eviction proceedings when that failed and resorted to homeless shelters.

Given such need, this slow response is inexcusable. Worse still, the amount put forward to fix the problem is ridiculously low. Ottawa’s $700 million is not enough to fix the affordable housing crisis in Toronto, let alone the entire country. This is akin to racing to a blazing house fire with a leaky garden hose.

However, any new affordable housing at all will make a considerable difference in the lives of some struggling Canadians so the provinces should take up this federal offer quickly and make the most of it. That’s something Ontario failed to do the last time.

When Ottawa committed housing funding in 2001, it took Ontario four years to craft the detailed agreement needed to get the money flowing. And instead of matching it dollar for dollar, Ontario dumped most of that responsibility onto the shoulders of municipalities and non-profit organizations. In the end, the money was spread so thinly to boost the number of units — and ribbon-cutting opportunities for politicians — that the housing produced was not affordable to those who needed it most.

This can’t be allowed to happen again. Ontario Housing Minister Rick Bartolucci must move quickly to sign a final deal with Ottawa, commit matching provincial funding and ensure that the housing created is affordable to those with low-incomes.

Right now there are more than 150,000 households — 80,000 of them in Toronto — on waiting lists for subsidized housing. Families often wait for 10 years or more.

These lists have grown, in part, because Ottawa has abandoned its responsibility to properly fund affordable housing. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government ignored a Senate committee in 2009 and a Commons committee in 2010 that both called for substantial federal action to address poverty and Canada’s severe shortage of affordable housing.

But that’s no reason for Ontario to do the same. Indeed, without secure, affordable housing, Premier Dalton McGuinty’s worthy plans to reduce child and family poverty will be undermined. How can adults find the time to train for better jobs if they are already working at two just to scrape together the rent money? How can children be expected to do well in school if they are constantly moving around because their families lack a secure home?

It’s vital that Ontario make the most of the meagre federal funds by topping up with provincial dollars and ensuring truly affordable housing is created. That will also put Ontario in a better position to continue its fight with Ottawa for more substantial support.