Mr. Speaker, 1.8 million Canadians cannot afford proper housing and 300,000 Canadians, including 20,000 children, are homeless.
This is a national disaster and a disaster for women. The government is failing ordinary Canadians. Women and children in Canada are disproportionately affected by the housing crisis.
One in five families with children is led by a single woman and 42% of these families experience housing affordability problems, while 72% of senior women cannot afford adequate housing.
Canada is the only industrialized country with no national housing program.
In January, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, led by Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best and Mayor Sam Sullivan, released an action plan to end homelessness and deliver affordable housing.
New Democrats applaud this report and call on the government to allocate an additional 1% of the federal budget toward social housing.