Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I thank all the witnesses for joining us to discuss the major housing crisis we are experiencing in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada.
We can say that there are two major issues related to the current housing crisis. The first is accessibility—the need for more housing—and the second is affordability—the need for new housing to be less expensive, as most of the poorest people are experiencing housing instability.
The new federal housing advocate, appointed recently by the federal government, said in an interview last weekend that, unfortunately, the entire national housing strategy was meeting only the core housing needs of 4.8% of people, those who spend more than 30% of their income on housing, which was problematic.
She even added that considerable funds have been committed under the national strategy. Significant amounts of money were announced, but, at the end of the day, only 35,000 housing units have been built since 2017, which is unbelievable.
My question is for Mr. Armstrong.
The new $4-billion fund for municipalities is a significant investment. Do you think this new program will be able to change the situation by improving accessibility and affordability?