Napanee, ON – A packed room of about 60 people attended an affordable housing workshop organized by Hastings—Lennox and Addington MP Mike Bossio at the L & A County Museum on Friday.
On hand to present on Canada’s first National Housing Strategy was affordable housing consultant Vivian Chih from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The $40 billion strategy includes a $13.2 billion Co-Investment Fund. This fund is currently open for applications, and is designed to attract partnerships and investments, and to incentivize new construction, or repairs and renewal of existing infrastructure.
“We have entered a new era for housing in Canada,” said Bossio. “This must include rural communities like ours, and we are actively seeking partners to make this happen. The big turnout at today’s workshop in Napanee is clear demonstration both of the need for more housing, and that our community wants to come together to make it happen.”
Among the attendees were Napanee Mayor-Elect Marg Isbester and Deputy Mayor-Elect Max Kaiser, along with Stone Mills Reeve Eric Smith, councillors, representatives from local social services, landlords, and developers.
“These sessions and outreach from the government through our MP and CMHC mean so much more with the right people in the room,” said Isbester. “We need the builders and investors, the not-for-profits, and the local government officials and staff who recognize the need to help support and facilitate these opportunities to increase affordable housing on a local level. We now need to help make the projects become a reality.”
A key element of the workshop was a presentation by Bob Cottrell and Phil Spry, who spoke about their successful partnership with their not-for-profit All-Together Affordable Housing and private sector Springale Development Inc., respectively, in creating affordable housing in places like Belleville, Coe Hill, and Bancroft. They have offered to act as advisors for others interested in building affordable housing throughout the community.
Hastings County will also host a housing event in Madoc Township on November 20, and Bossio is organizing a workshop in Bancroft on December 10.
Contact Bossio’s office at mike.bossio@parl.gc.ca or toll free 1-866-471-3800 for more information, or to receive copies of the presentation.
Quick Facts:
- To ensure the next generation of affordable community housing in Canada is built to last, at least 25% reduction in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions over national building and energy codes must be achieved for new construction projects and for repairs to existing projects. These minimum requirements represent the most ambitious environmental standards ever applied by governments to housing programs in Canada. They will be further enhanced and increased as the NHS is implemented in light of experience and improvements in technology and building science.
- The NHCF sets accessibility requirements for new and renewed projects and targets the construction, repair and renewal of housing for people with disabilities. As such, 20% of units must meet accessibility standards. Repair/renewal projects must be barrier-free in common areas and new construction projects must be barrier free and have full universal design.
- At least 33% of the NHS investments will support projects that specifically targets the unique needs of women and girls. The NHCF will support that objective by improving affordable housing options and increasing shelter space.
- To maximize the impact of the NHCF, up to $200 million-worth of federal lands will be made available to social and affordable housing providers at a discounted or no cost to encourage the development of affordable homes.
- To help more Canadians access housing that meets their needs and they can afford, the NHS sets out to achieve bold outcomes over the next 10 years, including removing more than 530,000 households from housing need, creating 100,000 new housing units as well as repairing and renewing more than 300,000 housing units.
Associated Links:
- As Canada’s authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. For more information, please visit cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.
- To find out more about the National Housing Strategy, visit www.placetocallhome.ca.
- To find more information about the National Housing Co-Investment Fund, visit www.cmhc-nhs.ca.
