The rapid housing initiative is a special program that our government introduced to respond to the housing challenges that have been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Out of the $1-billion program, the first $500 million went to the 15 municipalities in Canada, including a number in Quebec, that have the highest number of individuals experiencing homelessness. The remaining $500 million was dedicated to projects in municipalities, provinces, indigenous governing bodies, as well as non-profit organizations.
The reason the timelines were a little tight was that we wanted to make sure the money got out quickly so that we could address the challenges on the ground with respect to people experiencing homelessness.