National Defence Committee on Feb. 5th, 2024

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you very much for that response.

A report in October 2022 mentioned that there were 12,000 military housing units on bases across the country, that there are quite a few that are still needed and that there are wait-lists in different cities across the country at different bases. Are you aware of whether or not the department takes into account where there's a bigger need and there's a longer wait-list? Are there housing units being built more rapidly in areas that may have a greater need? What does that situation look like?

[Gregory A. Lick]

I don't have the statistics in front of me for the construction of housing right now, obviously, but I think overall more is needed. There's no doubt about that. The wait-lists are always rising pretty well across the country now—that's factual—so more is needed. Again, it's a good question for the CFHA to get the exact numbers.

The issue, of course, is that as costs rise, they're capped at 25%, so where do the other resources for maintenance come from? They have to come from the government, so again, it comes back to more resources being necessary. If they're going to cap it at that level, somebody has to pay the difference. In this case, the government has to pay the difference.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Last but not least, there are rumours I've heard about people who were in tents or couch surfing, specifically in Halifax. The thing I heard was they were allowed to be on base during their training—one month of training, or however long that might have lasted—and then immediately after, they were told they need to find their own home. Obviously, if you're in a completely new place, it's very difficult to do that.

Is there any leniency? Is there anything you've heard in this regard about a situation like this? Do you know if anybody is working on a solution?

[Gregory A. Lick]

There's certainly some leniency in terms of where they can find housing, how they find housing and so on, but the end result is.... There's limited capacity on base to house people. Generally, it's full. There's really no opportunity other than in the community to find housing. They get into this situation where there's simply not as much housing as is needed, not only for all Canadians but also for military families in the communities they serve, and again, it comes down to needing more.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Madame Lambropoulos, that brings our time to a close.

Mr. Lick and Ms. Hynes, I want to thank you for your contributions to this study.

Mr. Lick, you're always a welcome witness at this committee, and apparently you'll be a welcome witness next week, as well, on yet another study.

With that, I'm going to suspend while we go in camera to review a number of things for the committee.

[Proceedings continue in camera]