OTTAWA - Today, the Greater Victoria Capital Regional District of British Columbia will host the last of a series of local roundtable discussions on housing across the country organized by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) as part of its "Fixing Canada's Housing Crunch" campaign. The other roundtables were held over the past months in Halifax, Toronto, London, Brockville (ON), Thompson (MB), Regina, and Edmonton.
"All orders of government must work together to develop a long-term plan that addresses the high cost of housing in Canada, improves predictability of future federal investments, and keeps our most vulnerable citizens off the streets," said FCM President Brad Woodside.
Without a long-term plan and leadership from all orders of government, up to one-third of the country's social housing units - home to more than half a million Canadians - will eventually be lost as a result of the expiry of $1.7 billion in annual federal investment. Last week the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) released a report entitled "The Economic Survey of Canada" highlighting the severity of Canada's housing crunch, by revealing that 4 in 10 Canadians live in a city where housing prices are "seriously or severely unaffordable."
"The OECD report echoes what we've been hearing in roundtables in every region of the country that the high cost of housing is a threat to the economy and puts pressure on low-income renters as well as the next generation of homeowners," said FCM President Brad Woodside.
So far more than 200 resolutions calling for a long-term housing plan have been passed by city councils representing more than 70 per cent of the Canadian population. In the coming months as we get closer to the 2015 federal election, FCM will continue its campaign and call on federal parties to work with municipalities to fix the housing crunch in our cities and communities.
For more information about Canada's Housing Crunch, and our roundtables on the issue please consult the FCM Website at: www.fcm.ca/housingcrunch.