Debates of May 15th, 2023

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation—Main Estimates, 2023-24

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

Madam Chair, we have prevented 62,000 people from joining homelessness and we have diverted 32,000 people away from homelessness into permanent housing. That is our track record and we will continue to invest more to prevent and solve homelessness in Canada.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Madam Chair, the Auditor General's latest report actually says that he does not track that number, so I am not sure where he is coming up with that. The national housing strategy promises a 30% reduction in chronic homelessness usage.

What percentage of shelter usage has gone down since the minister introduced this strategy?

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

Madam Chair, I wish the hon. member used his advocacy skills within his caucus because their so-called housing plan does not even have the word “homelessness” in it.

How can we take this party seriously on homelessness when it is not even mentioned in its plan?

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Madam Chair, homeless shelters have actually gone up.

On the rapid housing initiative, how much has been spent on providing housing to people with disabilities?

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

Madam Chair, we believe in the right to housing; they do not.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I would ask members not to speak if it is not their opportunity to do so, especially when they have just finished speaking.

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Châteauguay—Lacolle.

[Brenda Shanahan, Liberal, Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC]

Madam Chair, housing affordability is a real and growing concern. Personally, I believe that Infrastructure Canada remains determined to do what it takes to help Canadians get through this crisis and to address the issue of housing and chronic homelessness.

Together, we plan to strengthen communities and the middle class. We will get there by making key investments in infrastructure and housing. Although we have made progress, we must not spare any effort to end chronic homelessness in Canada once and for all.

Esteemed colleagues, we know that one of the most important things that we can do is to build affordable housing to meet the needs of Canadians.

Housing affordability is a real and growing concern. There is no quick fix to this complex problem—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I will stop the clock. I want to remind members that if they want to have conversations, they should take them out into the lobby.

The hon. member for Châteauguay—Lacolle.

[Brenda Shanahan, Liberal, Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC]

Madam Chair, as we all know, simplistic solutions are simply unrealistic. Everyone deserves a safe and stable place to call home. Unfortunately, as we have seen recently in communities across our country, far too many Canadians face the unacceptable reality of homelessness on a daily basis.

That is why, in budget 2022, we committed to continuing to provide doubled annual funding to support Reaching Home, our homelessness strategy. These measures will provide more certainty to the local community organizations that are already doing incredible work in our cities and towns. Earlier, I mentioned what is happening in our community of Châteauguay—Lacolle. By supporting vulnerable Canadians, unlocking supply and addressing housing affordability, we will build stronger communities and a stronger middle class.

Reaching Home, Canada's homelessness strategy, which was launched in 2019, is a comprehensive plan to reduce and end homelessness across the country. The strategy is based on a collaborative approach between the federal, provincial and territorial governments, as well as the participation of community and civil society organizations. It aims to provide holistic support to people experiencing homelessness by focusing on prevention, affordable housing, access to mental health and addiction services, as well as skill building and social reintegration.

The Canadian strategy also recognizes the importance of addressing the underlying factors of homelessness, such as poverty, social inequality and lack of economic opportunities. Through the Reaching Home strategy, we have helped prevent 87,000 people from becoming homeless and housed 46,000 people. We still have a lot more work to do. We will not stop until we end chronic homelessness in Canada once and for all.

Another key aspect of Canada's homelessness strategy is our commitment to relying on evidence and best practices. Our government is investing in research and evaluation to better understand the causes and consequences of homelessness, and to determine the most effective ways to address them. This evidence-based approach allows us to direct investments to the most promising interventions and to adjust programs based on their results.

The coordination of efforts and the collaboration between all the players involved are also key components to our strategy. Partnerships are established between the different levels of government, community organizations, social services and health care providers, as well as people who have experienced homelessness. This collaborative approach encourages the pooling of resources, coordination of services and sharing of expertise, which helps maximize the effect of interventions and working together toward a common goal of reducing and eliminating homelessness in Canada.

Recently, we also announced the veteran homelessness program, a cause that is very dear to me. This program provides funding to third-party service delivery organizations to help with rent supplements and complementary services. Our government has invested $79.1 million to help veterans and their families obtain and keep housing. This funding will come in the form of a contribution under two distinct components.

The component on services and support measures will focus on the rent supplements and general support measures, for example consultation services and addictions treatment, for veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

The capacity building stream focuses on research and improved data collection on veteran homelessness, as well as increased capacity of organizations to deliver tailored initiatives to address the needs of veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

All Canadians deserve safe and affordable housing. However, that is not the reality for far too many of them, especially indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and veterans. Our veterans bravely served our country. They sacrificed for our country, and it is unacceptable that a veteran cannot find stable and suitable housing in Canada.

Our government is determined to end chronic homelessness across the country, and this program is a key part of that effort. We will continue to work together with our community and housing partners to invest in solutions that make a difference for those in need.

Infrastructure is the foundation for our community. I would like to ask the minister a question. We spoke about investments for veterans. I would like the minister to talk about projects like the one I heard my colleague from Sault Ste. Marie mention earlier.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion]

Madam Chair, I am actually very happy with that question. I just announced recently, along with the Minister of Veterans Affairs, a new program investing $79 million to create permanent housing solutions for veterans experiencing homelessness, which includes rental supplements as well as wraparound supports and services to integrate veterans and provide housing solutions for them. It is a great program. It is also about building capacity for veteran-serving organizations, while also dealing with the housing needs of veterans.

[Brenda Shanahan, Liberal, Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC]

Madam Chair, I have another question. I spoke earlier about community projects in my riding. For example, the Rustik motel was converted into 31 housing units for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. It was not easy to implement the project because the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation received an overwhelming number of applications. Has the government enhanced the plan?

In the end, the Rustik motel received $6 million to help people in my area and the neighbouring territory of Kahnawake.

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

Madam Chair, again, I thank the hon. member for her advocacy in getting those projects into her community. This is an example of what happens when the federal government is able to invest into locally prioritized projects that deliver real housing solutions for Canadians. I am proud of the work that we have been able to do in Châteauguay—Lacolle with the hon. member.

[Brenda Shanahan, Liberal, Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC]

Madam Chair, I know that there are other worthwhile projects being implemented in my area. Either they received money or they are working with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, or CMHC. It is not easy though. Flexibility is required.

This question is for the minister. How would we go about working with a project that wants to help people with severe disabilities, for example? How would we go about helping a project to support adults with intellectual disabilities who want to be independent? How does the CMHC work with these community groups?

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

Madam Chair, the hon. member is absolutely right. Canadians with disabilities are one of the priority groups in the national housing strategy. That means that the national housing strategy prioritizes investments in affordable housing to deliver permanent housing and transitional housing to adults with developmental disabilities, as well as wraparound services and supports.

That is how we deliver housing that meets the needs of all Canadians, particularly projects with future partnerships among local governments, provinces and territories, non-profit organizations and multiple players, including the federal government. We have seen those kinds of projects come to fruition precisely because of the partnerships, but also due to the significant federal dollars that are delivered through programs like the rapid housing initiative and the national housing co-investment fund.

[Brenda Shanahan, Liberal, Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC]

Madam Chair, the minister mentioned the fact that we are working in partnership with other levels of government. I would like him to tell us more about the agreements.

I think that, over the years, there have been many negotiations and many agreements with the Government of Quebec. From what I can see in my riding, that is working well and it is very worthwhile. I am thinking, for example, of the Rustik motel project. We are working with both the Société d'habitation du Québec and the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest on that in order to provide services and funding.

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

Madam Chair, the federal government is determined to help Quebeckers find safe and affordable housing.

Since 2015, we have invested more than $6.5 billion in Quebec to help more than 45,000 families and individuals secure the housing they needed.

The bilateral agreement between the governments of Canada and Quebec will result in a combined investment of an additional $3.7 billion over 10 years to improve housing conditions in Quebec.

That is what federal leadership on housing looks like for Quebeckers.

[Brenda Shanahan, Liberal, Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC]

Madam Chair, I would like to give the minister the opportunity to elaborate on certain points that he may not have had the time to address.

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

Madam Chair, it is really important, as the hon. member has emphasized, that we continue to partner with other orders of government, but also with the private sector as well as the non-profit sector, to deliver more housing, more affordable housing and more supply of housing across the country. Partnerships are very important for the housing sector.

[Denis Trudel, Bloc, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Madam Chair, I am finding this evening a bit difficult. It is an important evening. As I said earlier, housing is a very serious issue. It is one of three serious crises that we are experiencing in Canada right now. There is the climate crisis, the language crisis and the housing crisis.

We have been here for three hours and the minister does not have any answers for us. He is accusing everyone of not voting for the reforms that he is making. However, we know now that the strategy does not work. It is not the Bloc Québécois, the Conservative Party, the NDP or the Green Party that is saying that. It is the National Housing Council. Many housing organizations across Canada are saying that the strategy does not work.

This evening, the Liberals are denying reality. They are saying that things are going well and that we should vote with them and that it will all work out. No, because the fact is that the strategy is not working.

I would like to come back to something the parliamentary secretary said. She said that 500,000 housing units have been built or renovated in Quebec. She mentioned that number earlier.

The CMHC itself published a document on the national housing strategy at its midway point. It talks about “the creation and repair of 213,733 units”, which includes the repair of 111,000 units. It talks about 213,000 units in total. That is 101,000 units built and 111,000 units repaired in the previous seven years across Canada.

The parliamentary secretary talked about 500,000 housing units in Quebec alone. I am not sure where she got her numbers, but I would like to know.

Earlier, I asked a very clear question. How many social housing units have been built in Quebec since the beginning of the strategy? That is my question for the minister.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing)]

Madam Chair, when I referred to 500,000 housing units, I was talking about the $40 billion planned for the entire national housing strategy.

The member wants numbers on Quebec. Under the co-investment fund, Quebec received $348 million. That represents 8,074 housing units.

Since 2019, under the Reaching Home strategy, 62,000 people in this country have been prevented from becoming homeless, and 32,000 have found permanent housing. For phase one of the rapid housing initiative, we are talking about $223 million invested for 1,698 housing units.

[Denis Trudel, Bloc, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Madam Chair, when the government announced $800 million for English in Quebec in the past five years in its official languages action plan, did my colleague stand up in cabinet and ask why they wanted to send $800 million to help the anglophone community in Quebec, the best-treated linguistic minority in the Milky Way, when people are in core housing need?

Again, I was there with her today. The United Way has released a study showing that 360,000 families are struggling to find housing in Montreal alone. However, $800 million is being sent to help the anglophone community. I would like to know if my colleague stood up or made any kind of gesture to indicate that this does not make sense.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Madam Chair, I applaud the billions of dollars sent to Quebec since 2015.

I was there this morning, as was my colleague. What I heard people say is that they are pleased with the national housing strategy, whether it is the national housing co-investment fund or the rapid housing initiative.

We all agree that we must do more and do it faster. That will definitely not happen with a party that treats municipalities as though they were incompetent.

[Denis Trudel, Bloc, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Madam Chair, I hope my colleague was not referring to me. I have never called the municipalities incompetent.

Once again, my colleague is gushing about her government's program, but the CMHC says there is a shortfall of 3.5 million units to “restor[e] affordability by 2030”, as the CMHC put it.

The deputy chief economist of the CMHC, Aled ab Iorwerth, said, “Canada's approach to housing supply needs to be rethought and done differently”.

That is what the CMHC is saying, not the Bloc Québécois.

He also said, “There must be a drastic transformation of the housing sector”.

I would consider that criticism of the current strategy.

He added that there must be “government policies and processes, and an 'all-hands-on-deck' approach to increasing the supply of housing to meet demand”.

What does my colleague have to say to the deputy chief economist of the CMHC?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Madam Chair, I would tell the deputy chief economist that that is exactly what we are doing.

A variety of measures are needed to address the overall challenges targeted by the national housing strategy, which includes increasing the supply of housing across the country. That is exactly what all of our programs are doing, whether by addressing the right to housing, curbing market speculation or increasing supply. That is exactly what we are doing, including with the chief economist of the CMHC.