Human Resources Committee on Nov. 4th, 2020

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thank you, Minister.

Mr. Chair, do I have any time left?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

You have a minute and a half.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Great.

Minister, thank you for that really extensive answer. I'm going to pivot now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Sorry, you actually have two minutes. Go ahead.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

I want to ask you about the emergency community support fund, because I think that's another essential support for our beloved non-profit and charitable sector, which as we all know is struggling. I'm sure you're hearing every day about just how much that sector is struggling.

You mentioned in your opening remarks that there are definitely fewer donations, that the revenues are down for the charitable sector, but the demand is increasing for their services. It is probably also challenging to get volunteers out. I just think the emergency community support fund is such an essential support for that sector at a time when we really are relying on it much more.

Could you provide us an update on how that work is advancing and whether there is anything else in the pipeline to support the charitable and non-profit sectors?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Yes, the reason we moved ahead on the emergency community support fund was that we heard from the community-based organizations that were providing really important work and delivering important services, as well as food and medicine, to the most vulnerable in our communities. But the same organizations that we rely on to take care of the most vulnerable in our country were, themselves, facing pressures, whether it was a drop in donations, a drop in volunteers, or sometimes facing new costs that they did not have to face before.

The member for Spadina—Fort York told me about an organization in his constituency that used to get free baked goods from a business. Now, because of COVID-19, the business has closed, so suddenly this non-profit had to buy baked goods. That is an extra cost they simply didn't face before.

The $350 million is meant to target those organizations and reinforce them so they can not only continue to deliver those important services, but actually reach more people.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Minister.

Ms. Chabot, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good evening, Minister.

Social housing and homelessness are very important issues that Quebeckers care about deeply. I imagine that holds true in other parts of the country as well.

Specifically, I'd like to talk about the recently introduced rapid housing initiative. If I'm not mistaken, it is a $1-billion initiative and all the funding is supposed to be spent quickly, before mid-May 2021. I thought that $250 million had already been allocated.

Given the short time frame, which reflects how urgent the situation is, why not make all of the funding available immediately? Do you plan to ask for additional funding to address the situation?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Chair, every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. Our government recently announced $1 billion for the rapid housing initiative to build 3,000 affordable housing units across the country.

What we have done is to ensure that there are two separate streams. The first 15 municipalities—including Montreal and Quebec City—across Canada that have the highest number of individuals experiencing homelessness will receive money as part of the first envelope of $500 million, but there's another $500 million in the project stream, which is available to organizations and other municipalities that have rapid housing projects. Again, when I talk about the rapid housing projects, I mean building housing quickly or buying buildings, buying hotels or motels, and converting them quickly into housing. The point is to move people into housing within 12 months.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

I have a follow-up question, because I may not have made myself clear. Why did you budget only $250 million in the 2020-21 supplementary estimates (B), when the initiative provides $1 billion in funding? Why the difference? Can you shed some light on that?

I will move on to another question. It's about the funding to support Canadians experiencing homelessness. The main purpose is to provide money directly to the agencies. Can you describe the criteria you used in choosing the organizations that received funding?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

That's a very good question. On Reaching Home, there are two types of organizations that we deliver money to. These are front-line organizations serving individuals experiencing homelessness. One is the general stream, and then there are also organizations that are indigenous-serving and indigenous-led, which serve an indigenous homeless population. Those are the two groups we funnel money to through the Reaching Home program. The criteria are simple: They have to demonstrate that they are serving a population that's homeless, and that they have a demonstrable track record of being able to manage the funds and provide services, including shelter and other supported services.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Now I have a question about Service Canada. Businesses struggled when they had to shut down, as we know. What's more, Service Canada has only resumed partial service delivery. Have you earmarked any money to hire staff so that services can resume on a permanent basis, at both outreach sites and Service Canada centres?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Chair, I will defer to Ms. Lori MacDonald for this question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Go ahead, Ms. MacDonald.

[Lori MacDonald, Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Employment and Social Development and Chief Operating Officer for Service Canada, Department of Employment and Social Development]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

At this time, we have 285 of our Service Canada centres open, out of 317. They are fully staffed at this time and, in fact, we are now able to serve 93% of the Canadian population within 50 kilometres of a Service Canada centre. We are funded, we are open and we are serving clients.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Ms. MacDonald.

Thank you, Madame Chabot.

Next, we have Ms. Kwan, please, for six minutes.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the minister and his officials.

My first question is for CMHC.

Could the departmental officials table their assessment of the count of the homeless population for each municipality in the major city stream and any other factors used to determine the severity of housing need in the stream, as well as the distribution of units projected to be built by city based on the regional property costs?

[Evan Siddall]

Yes, we can table that information.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

My second question is also for you, Mr. Siddall. Through my order paper questions, when I asked about the co-investment fund and the rental construction financing initiative, the figures the department provided are about funding “commitments”. Can the officials confirm for the record that these funding commitments include applications that have a letter of intent but no pending agreement? Could the department also table how much of these funds has so far been transferred to each applicant?

[Evan Siddall]

We can table all that information, certainly.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Can you confirm for me, on the record, that the funding commitments include applications that have a letter of intent but no pending agreement?

[Evan Siddall]

I'm not sure that is true. We will address that question in writing.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

The municipalities and NGOs have met with CMHC officials and have told them that the RHI is fraught with concerns. They pointed out that modular housing projects can only be approved on a 10-year basis, yet eligibility rules require a 20-year-plus option. They restrict eligibility to conversion of non-residential buildings or, if it is a residential building, it has to be in disrepair or abandoned, and that is hugely problematic, as such projects could easily take anywhere from one to five years with rezoning and permitting requirements. They also pointed out that there needs to be a dedicated parallel program led by urban, rural and northern indigenous housing providers.

My question for the minister is, will the minister listen to the NGOs and the municipalities and change the eligibility rules?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

We have listened; in fact, we consulted extensively with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and they're the ones who helped us design this program. We have listened; we have delivered a program that I believe reflects the wishes of the community in terms of setting up two separate streams, one focusing on where the urgent problem is, the top 15 municipalities that have the highest number of homeless individuals, and also allowing—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Sorry, let me interrupt because my time is limited, Minister.

My question is about the specific criteria. Have your officials brought to you the concerns that the cities and NGOs raised with respect to what I indicated just now?