Thank you for your question.
The rapid housing initiative is different from the other national housing strategy programs. It's the only program whose affordability requirements are clearly based on the tenants' ability to pay rather than on current prices, which doesn't work, as we saw earlier.
In addition, this initiative is restricted to public or non‑profit developers. It's the only one clearly geared towards housing that falls outside the private market and that's truly affordable. For us, it's a good initiative. It's appreciated throughout Quebec and Canada because it funds 100% of the development costs, which helps us to move forward much more quickly than when we must put together complex financial packages.
However, it's the only one‑time initiative for which no 10‑year funding has been announced. There was a phase 1 and a phase 2, and that's it. While this is the only initiative clearly intended for housing outside the private market and targeting the most vulnerable people, the program has no continuity, unlike the other initiatives. It would therefore be good to see this program renewed.
In addition, there's a lack of personal assistance. For example, in Quebec, the government must pay for the rent supplement to help low‑income tenants, who often need support to pay the rent, even though the development costs are covered. Quebec must also pay for community support, because this program is intended for people who are homeless or in very vulnerable situations, such as senior tenants or indigenous people living in urban areas. Often, community support is also needed, and it isn't funded by Ottawa. This gap must be addressed.
As I said, this initiative is intended for people in very vulnerable situations. We've seen that the tenant households in Quebec and Canada in core housing need include modest‑income households whose only issue is that they don't have enough income to pay rent. Social and community housing is needed for these people as well. Other programs require funding. This can be done, for example, through increased transfers to the provinces—