Mr. Speaker, Canada's housing crisis requires action by all levels of government. On a typical night, 300 people crowd into homeless shelters in Vancouver, 700 in Calgary, 400 in Ottawa and 4,000 in Toronto.
There are other signs the poor are having a tough time making ends meet in our cities. The use of food banks is up. There is more panhandling. The waiting lists for subsidized housing are long and getting longer. In Toronto it is estimated the waiting period for admission to social housing is well over five years. It is estimated that 490,000 social housing units are urgently needed.
There is something basically wrong when more and more people cannot afford to live in Canada's richest cities. It is time to make social investments in housing. It is time for a national housing program.