Thank you for the question.
When it comes to housing construction projects, what matters is ensuring that the focus is on the community. Governments and programs have to take into account the real needs of the people in the community. The government cannot simply issue a call for proposals and direct its investments accordingly, while it leaves everything up to the market or whatever initiative it may be.
Quebec's AccèsLogis program is based on three-way participation: the Quebec government, municipalities and the given group all contribute. It relies on co‑funding from not-for-profit organizations and housing co‑operatives, but in the private sector. We don't provide all the funding for housing construction projects. We fund community housing projects that meet the needs out there.
It's hard to get housing groups to recognize that our ecosystem, which leverages the involvement of co‑operatives and not-for-profit organizations, provides a beneficial way of doing things. It's also hard to extend that model to the entire country. We don't have the dedicated resources or programming that would allow for community engagement, in conjunction with developers.
As mentioned, when a region needs social housing, we usually conduct a needs assessment together with the municipality. Then, we design a project and apply for government funding so programs can move forward. The Quebec government's share of the funding should be 50%, and the municipalities', 15%. That way, if the federal government were to get on board with this approach and contribute a share, we would be able to do more and do it better.
Having a network of developers is also important. As you've come to understand, getting housing projects built is a complicated affair, so it requires people who have the needs and interests of others at heart, not people who are willing to build housing just so they can make a profit. It's really important to take the commodity dimension out of housing construction in order to meet people's needs. That is the model we have successfully implemented in Quebec for more than 40 years, and I repeat, it's working.