Ottawa, ON – The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) welcomes today’s federal announcement of a new Canada Rental Protection Fund, which is set to provide $470 million in grants over five years as well as $1 billion in loans to support affordable housing in communities across the country.
This announcement represents a substantive response to FCM’s calls ahead of Budget 2024 for a national housing acquisition fund to protect affordable housing in Canada, prevent people from falling into homelessness and shield renters from ‘renoviction’ practices.
This new acquisition fund is crucial in the context of Canada losing existing affordable housing supply faster than we can build. Between 2016 and 2021, Canada lost 370,000 homes that rented below $1,000 per month. A fund to protect renters and combat the financialization of housing has been one of the missing pieces in Canada’s housing strategy.
FCM has been advocating for a national housing acquisition fund for years, alongside other organizations including the Canada Housing and Renewal Association, having identified this as a key component of an effective National Housing Strategy. This investment will support non-profit organizations, co-operatives and other partners in purchasing existing rental properties by providing them with the necessary funding.
While positive, today’s announcement contains details that will need to be analyzed. FCM will continue the conversation with the federal government to make sure existing and future municipally led residential acquisition initiatives are eligible to make use of this new fund.
Homelessness and the loss of affordable housing remains a serious issue across Canada. This is why this announcement represents a key element of a multi-faceted approach needed to tackle these issues. However, municipalities will require ongoing support and collaboration with federal, provincial and territorial governments to face this challenge on the ground.
With municipalities being the order of government closest to key issues like affordable housing and homelessness, FCM is urging the federal government to convene all orders of government to discuss a new Municipal Growth Framework that would better support communities in the long-term.
Today’s announcement is timely in the context of ongoing re-negotiations of the Canada Community Building Fund, which remains a crucial funding program for Canadian communities of all sizes.
We are ready to contribute the perspective of Canadian municipalities to the successful design and implementation of this new funding over the coming weeks, and to support the best outcomes for non-market, affordable housing in communities across the country.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is the national voice of municipal governments, with over 2,100 members representing more than 92 per cent of the Canadian population.
For more information please contact:
FCM Media Relations, (613) 907-6395, media@fcm.ca