Debates of June 13th, 2023

Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my phone is not near the microphone.

On the issue around local governments making decisions with rezoning and the question around nimbyism, that is a real problem. I think local politicians just need to take a deep breath and say to those communities, as I did when I was a municipal councillor, we need this housing done.

Any time we had social housing development come forward, I voted for it and I spoke for it vociferously because it is the right thing to do. It is important for an election, for people to support politicians who will get the job done. The government can use incentives and disincentives to motivate that process as well.

On the question of development cost charges, the development cost charges are fees that are necessary. Let us be clear that the developer will work out its pro forma and determine what it can and cannot do. Local governments can look at that issue as it ties to the zoning. Literally by the flick of a pen and by signing that signature, the government is giving money to the developers. What is the return? The return is also in community amenities, whether in green spaces, social housing or other community amenities that are necessary.

Let us just remember this: Developers should not get a free pass. They should pay their fair share. Let us make sure local governments know the strength and power that they have in yielding that return to the community.

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her speech.

Fundamentally, we agree. The housing crisis has reached catastrophic levels. We need to build 1.1 million housing units over the next 10 years. That is how many units it was determined we need. However, in the last five years, the federal government managed to build only 200,000. We agree that this is a disaster.

I agree with my colleague, and I want to commend her. Her speech dovetailed with those of my colleagues. She spoke about how renoviction is bad and how certain landlords prioritize profit over tenants' well-being. She is totally right.

Why then is she supporting a government in exchange for its support on another matter, dental care? Is dental care really worth abandoning the housing crisis for?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am so glad the member asked the question. Dental care is absolutely essential, because it is part of our health care system. However, the NDP did not just ask for dental care; we absolutely asked for housing investments as well. The NDP is not in government, although I know people think we are. However, we are leveraging our power to push and to force the government to take action.

With respect to the housing file, while we asked for the government to provide, for example, a permanent program for the rapid housing initiative, to inject funds into the co-development fund and a number of other measures, what we were able to get out of all our asks with respect to housing was the investment in an urban-rural northern housing strategy. In budget 2022, we were able to secure $300 million; in budget 2023, we secured $4 billion over seven years. Finally, for distinction-based funding for indigenous communities, we were able to secure $4 billion over seven years in budget 2022.

Is it enough? No, it is not. Are we going to continue to fight for more? We absolutely are.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her passion for fighting on the issue of housing.

In Timmins right now, a community of 45,000 people, we have almost 1,000 homeless people. This is creating a serious social crisis and a policing crisis, as well as exacerbating the opioid crisis. We have no place to get people into safe housing. We have no support for single moms. What we need is mixed housing and co-operative housing of the kind that built much of the community housing that we have in our region, which is sustainable for families. We see the Liberals making lots of promises with respect to housing, but we are not seeing it on the ground. What does my hon. colleague think about the need to guarantee that we have mixed co-operative housing in all our communities, whether it is in northern Ontario or in downtown Vancouver, so we can maintain sustainable communities and people can live humane, decent and hopeful lives?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, there is no question that we need the federal government's leadership. The federal government used to develop social housing and co-op housing; it did so really well. We used to provide subsidies to ensure that rent was low. We would partner with the local governments, the provincial governments and the non-profit sector. That is what we need to get back to. Right now, the program that the federal government has in place is ineffective; if we truly hope to treat housing as a basic human right, the government needs to make more investments into housing to address the housing crisis.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly respect and recognize the member opposite's passion on this file.

Let us also talk about a lot of the good things we have done as a government, whether it is through the billions of dollars of national housing strategy investment, the rapid housing initiative, the coinvestment fund, the accelerator fund or the Canada housing benefit. These are programs that the NDP, the party opposite, has supported.

Given the fact that the member was a former cabinet minister in a provincial government, though, could she speak about the provincial role in housing, the vital role the provinces play and how we need the provinces to step up to the plate to help us help them?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the provinces obviously have a role to play; they need to do so, although some provinces choose not to. However, of the provinces that do play a role, in the case of British Columbia, for example, the NDP B.C. government actually created an acquisition fund to buy up housing stock that came onto the market to house people who are homeless and do not have access to housing. We wanted the federal government to partner with us. Would the federal government do that? No, it would not.

Right now, in my riding, there is a site, 105 Keefer Street, where a developer wants to build luxury condos in a low-income area in Chinatown. The community wants the federal government to partner with the provincial government and the city government to do a land swap. Then, we could take that site to develop social housing to meet the needs of the community, particularly for seniors living in Chinatown in deplorable housing conditions. That is what we need the federal government to do to be a true partner at the table.

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by thanking the member for Vancouver East for matching, in her ferocity, the depth of the housing crisis that we are in across the country. I also appreciate that the member spoke specifically about the deep issues with respect to the financialization of housing and the work that we have both been doing when it comes to addressing that, through getting rid of the tax exemption for one specific type of corporate landlord: real estate investment trusts. As the member referenced, this is a pretty simple, reasonable measure to redirect $300 million over the next five years to build the affordable housing we need. That report came out months ago. The member has been here longer than I have. Could she reflect on why it is that, months later, such a reasonable measure still has not been followed through on?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, if I were the minister of housing, we would have taken action long ago. In fact, I would not have eliminated the national affordable housing program back in 1993, which caused the escalating problems of the housing crisis that we are faced with today.

I cannot speak for the Liberals on why they would not take these measures. The only reason that I could guess at is that it is because of those very insider friends that they have. Perhaps that is what is immobilizing the Liberals from taking action.

The other possibility, of course, is that, here in the House of Commons, the Minister of Housing is using housing as an investment tool. Perhaps he has a blind spot in looking at the true situation as it is and making sure that housing is not treated as a commodity.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege for me to rise in the House to speak to the report tabled by the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities. It is also a privilege to be the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing, because we know that the housing problem is a concern today and has also been a long-standing concern for many of us here in the House and for many Canadians across the country.

It was certainly a concern for me, my family and my mother. For a long time, I lived with my disabled brother in a third-floor apartment. I often had to carry my brother on my back up three flights of stairs, set him down in the hallway of our small two-bedroom apartment, and then go back down for his wheelchair and carry it up to the third floor, in a building that was not designed for persons with disabilities who need accessible housing. I lived in low-rental housing, where the rent is set at 25% of the household income, because my working-class family could not afford to pay for housing at market prices.

My story would be familiar to many Canadians, especially in my riding. The government recently invested in my riding, including in projects to help people experiencing homelessness. For example, the organization L'Anonyme has a unique and innovative program for making rooms available to people experiencing homelessness. Les Auberges du coeur is a shelter network that gets young adults off the street and into a suitable apartment, with the community support they need. There are numerous similar examples across the country, such as the project recently implemented by Sen̓áḵw in Vancouver, in the home province of my colleague who just addressed the House. It is a 6,000-unit project in which $1.7 billion was invested thanks to the national housing strategy.

We have invested in recent years. Critics claim that we have not built enough housing units, but we have made sure to renovate many units to maintain affordability. We recently announced that 58,000 housing units in Vancouver would be renovated thanks to a $1.3‑billion investment. Just last year, we also announced that 4,000 units in Montreal would be renovated. These are units that are currently boarded up and inaccessible to families. To maintain affordability, it is just as important to renovate as to build.

Many of us have mentioned that each order of government has a role to play in housing. It is a shared responsibility. I used to be a city councillor for one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Montreal, Saint‑Michel. The neighbourhood had one low-cost housing complex known as Habitations Saint‑Michel‑Nord. In our first two or three years in power, our government invested in the “Saint‑Michel plan” to remodel the entire complex in order to give these families a decent place to live.

Responsibility for the project was shared with the municipality and the province. We cannot do it alone. The federal government does not have a magic wand. It takes leadership, and that is exactly what we provided with the national housing strategy. However, insulting the municipalities and calling them incompetent is certainly not going to get more housing built. We need to sit down with all stakeholders, including the different orders of government, community organizations and the private sector, to make sure that we are working not only on social and affordable housing, but also on the entire housing spectrum. We need to consider the most vulnerable, as well as those hoping to purchase a property.

I have a 22-year-old daughter, and all I hear from her is that it is impossible for her to get on the property ladder. Right now, the generation gap between our children and the people who bought property years ago is immense. We need to make sure that people have shelter and do not have to live in the street, but also that young families can buy a home. Between the two ends of the spectrum, we must ensure that there is social and affordable housing for everyone. Offering funding to build and renovate housing is one thing, but this is the first time that a government has introduced legislation on the right to housing.

We do believe that having a roof over one's head is a human right. We wrote that right into law though the act that created the position of federal housing advocate.

Our government is ready to be held accountable for the actions it is taking through the national housing strategy. However, a federal housing advocate does not necessarily create a right in the provinces and municipalities. How can we work with the provinces and municipalities so that they also take measures that will protect Canadians, especially tenants?

As I have said, we have put in place measures concerning the right to housing, including the federal housing advocate. However, we particularly want to work on the issue of renovictions. Speculation is making it all too easy to force people out of their homes to financialize housing.

I should take this opportunity to say that I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Nepean. I want to thank my colleague for reminding me.

No one should lose their home, and no one should lose an affordable home because of housing financialization. The measures we want to take and work on will require collaboration with the provinces. As we know, housing is a provincial jurisdiction.

Several of my colleagues have spoken about the various programs under the national housing strategy. The committee report mentioned the housing accelerator fund for municipalities. This program aims to increase the housing supply by 100,000 new units across the country. We want to be sure to give to municipalities—which I hope will no longer be called “gate keepers,” “incompetent” and “woke”—the means to be real partners and work together with various levels of government to build more housing. What does that mean?

That means that if the municipalities want to access this fund, they will need to increase housing density and ensure the sustainable development of units and their affordability. Through the CMHC, the government will give money and invest in these municipalities based on their performance. That is exactly what the opposition is asking us to do.

We are already doing that. I do not understand why the opposition members are criticizing the program—actually, they are not criticizing it, they are just not voting for it—and are asking us to do things that we have already done. I would invite them to read the program information and, among other things, attend the webinar provided by the CMHC. I think that it may shed some light on the details of this program.

I would also like to talk about the co-investment fund. We are talking about forcing the levels of government to work with us to build more housing. The co-investment fund does exactly that: It stimulates partnership. To access the co-investment fund, an organization must have partners from the municipal, provincial or other levels to carry out projects. At this time, the average rent for the co-investment fund is $718 in the country. The co-investment fund ensures that housing in this country is affordable.

The committee report outlines several excellent recommendations. They are already part of the program that was announced. In addition, I invite all my colleagues in the House to talk with their municipalities so that they are prepared to work with the federal government and submit projects shortly.

We recognize that there is a whole lot of work to be done. However, one thing is certain: Through all the programs under the national housing strategy, the federal government returned to the table with leadership that will stimulate partnership and collaboration. The government wants to ensure that, across the country, the supply of affordable housing will increase, that young families will get access to home ownership and that no one is left out on the street. The right to housing is a human right.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Speaker, my riding of Cowichan—Malahat—Langford has a mix of medium- to small-sized communities, and of course those communities have different resources based on their population. Langford is a big city. It has a well-staffed city council, but if I compare that with the City of Duncan or the Town of Lake Cowichan, they do not have similar resources.

As such, I am pleased to see the recommendations that were in this report, and I know the housing accelerator fund is taking those in stride, but my colleague from Vancouver East raised an important point during the course of her speech. It was the fact that we have many large private corporations swooping in, buying up cheap housing stock and then forcing the residents out with a renoviction.

I would just like to hear more from my colleague on how we tackle that problem because, in Canada's major cities, that is a huge problem, and the pace at which we are building affordable housing is not keeping up with how many people are being displaced by that practice.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Madam Speaker, my colleague is absolutely correct. When we legislate on the right to housing, we will have to make sure that we protect tenants from renovictions. We will have to protect our housing stock to ensure that it belongs to Canadians. Actually, that is one of the reasons why we declared a moratorium on foreign investment.

My colleague referred to municipalities of different sizes. That is exactly the point. The housing accelerator fund is designed to support municipalities at the level they are at, to enhance their capacity to be true partners in building more housing.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary. We know that she is sincere in her intent to do whatever it takes to meet needs.

My colleague cited examples of organizations or groups in her community that are taking action and making a real difference for people experiencing homelessness, low-income individuals and people in the greatest housing need. There is a committee in my own riding that is working to implement this type of co-op housing to serve residents. However, we know that it can be slow going sometimes.

This fund was promoted to our towns and municipalities, but we know that it is really for municipalities with a population of 10,000 or more. The Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities was concerned about that. In our opinion, the fund should be for both rural areas and big cities. Should the scope of the fund not have been expanded in terms of support for municipalities?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague and fellow member of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities. I also thank her for all her comments at committee that advance the cause of social and affordable housing.

As for her question, I would like to reassure her by noting that a regional county municipality, for example, can apply to the housing accelerator fund. One of the concerns that we had was about serving the vast majority of municipalities, particularly here in Quebec. That is part of the program, and I would be pleased to discuss it with her personally as well.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, for her wonderful leadership on the housing file.

We have come forth with many great programs and initiatives to help those looking for housing and to help solve the housing crisis we are in. Whether it is the rapid housing initiative, the co-investment fund, the housing accelerator or the housing benefit, we certainly know that the Conservative Party voted against each and every one of those initiatives.

The one that puzzles me the most is the right to housing being entrenched in law, which the Conservative Party voted against. My question to the parliamentary secretary is this: Could she give some comments as to why the Conservative Party would vote against such an initiative?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Madam Speaker, all I can say is that all I am hearing in the House from this opposition party is insults. They are saying that people are incompetent, particularly when they are talking about municipalities. As a former city councillor, I find that extremely disrespectful to those duly elected representatives.

The members of that party often talk about buying a home. Yes, that is important. I spoke about it in my speech. However, why do they not recognize the issue of the right to housing? All they see in housing is an economic contribution. That is all.

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Madam Speaker, global inflation, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and supply chain disruptions are some of the biggest issues of our times, and they are colluding to drive up the cost of living up in Canada, particularly the cost of housing. I am thankful for the opportunity to stand here today to discuss housing affordability, a crucial issue that affects everyone in this country.

Our colleagues across the floor have the privilege of picking isolated issues and suggesting that solutions are simple. It is, of course, the role of the opposition in the House to find fault, question policy and hold government to account. Meanwhile, it is the role of the government to act, and we have done that.

We have launched a suite of measures to address the problem of housing affordability on multiple fronts. It would take more than my allotted time to address them all, so I would like to draw the attention of members to two initiatives focused specifically on speeding up the creation of housing.

One of the things that defines the problem of housing affordability is that it takes years to build a home, but the need is happening now, so we created the rapid housing initiative, which is designed to support affordable housing projects with the quickest possible turnaround times. We also developed the housing accelerator fund, which is launching this summer, to encourage systemic changes in how housing is built in this country.

The rapid housing initiative is one of the most successful in our national housing strategy. It is designed to quickly yield new affordable homes for those who need them most and who need them soon. Through two rounds of funding, the rapid housing initiative has exceeded every target we set for it.

Once the last bricks are laid, the two rounds are expected to produce more than 10,000 homes, which is 2,500 more than we had hoped for. That is why late last year we launched the third round of projects, which is backed by $1.5 billion in investments. It is expected to yield 4,500 additional affordable homes, bringing the total expected to 15,000.

The rapid housing initiative was launched as part of our government's response to the pandemic. It continues because we recognize the urgent need for housing has not gone away.

While that initiative is getting shovels in the ground now, we have also announced the housing accelerator fund to look to the future. The fund will help municipalities cut red tape and streamline their housing processes. The fund is backed by $4 billion in federal investments and will run until 2026-27. It will begin accepting applications this summer. The target is to create at least 100,000 net new homes over the course of the initiative.

By partnering with local governments, we can create long-term systemic changes to how we build housing in Canada. These changes will continue making a tangible impact on our housing supply well beyond the timeline of the fund itself.

I could spend all my time today telling members why I think these are great programs, but let me tell the story of Brenda Blanchard. Brenda was on a wait-list for seniors' housing and living with her daughter. She had been struggling with housing costs for a long time until she found a home in the Bechtel modular housing development in Cambridge, Ontario.

Brenda's new home is part of an innovative project to turn shipping containers into affordable housing for seniors. It is funded by the rapid housing initiative, and the project was turned around in 15 months. Most importantly, it has transformed Brenda's life for the better. Its accessibility features mean she can get around easily, and most importantly, she says that it has given her back her independence.

By teaming up with partners in municipal, provincial and territorial governments, indigenous communities and the private and non-for-profit sector, we are creating many success stories such as Brenda's across this country from coast to coast to coast.

As I said, the rapid housing initiative and the housing accelerator fund are just two initiatives in our $82-billion national housing strategy. They are complemented by the strategy's other activities that, together, tackle this problem from every angle that will have an impact. It is a complex issue that needs a diverse set of responses.

We have built on and enhanced this strategy repeatedly since its launch in 2017 in response to feedback from partners and the public, and to the changing needs of the people of Canada. This is a long way of saying that we have listened and we have acted. We will continue to do both because there is a lot more to do.

Too many people in this country are still struggling to find and keep a roof overhead, to get a home that meets their family's needs and allows them to thrive. There are too many Brenda Blanchards out there, people who are underserved by the housing market and just need a little help getting a home. Our government has made housing a priority since day one of our mandate, and we will continue to do so.

In my riding of Nepean, we have funded Multifaith Housing Initiative's 98 beautiful affordable homes, which are now occupied by families who are very happy. We are also funding a new affordable housing project in the Christ Church area of Bells Corners, with 47 new units coming up. We have also announced funding for Ottawa Community Housing, which is going to start building affordable housing projects and affordable homes in the Barrhaven area of Nepean.

One of the key things in housing is the starts, the new housing buildups, which have become stagnant in the last almost 45 years. In 1980, when the population of Canada was 24.5 million, the housing starts were 130,000. In 2023, the population of Canada is 38.8 million, but the housing starts are just 213,000. The ratio of housing starts to population growth has come down from 0.55 in 1980 to just 0.3 in 2023.

That is the key thing we are tackling, along with partnering with the provincial and municipal governments. The housing starts have to grow, and one of the major reasons developers say that they cannot build new homes is the regulations at the city level or municipal level. We are partnering, in the same way, with the municipal governments so they can act much more quickly and do the approvals faster to get new homes built as soon as possible.

I look forward to any questions that my colleagues might have.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to talk about the recommendations set out in that report, which was actually produced in 2022. One of the recommendations indicates that the housing accelerator fund should be largely devoted to the acquisition, renovation, and construction of off-market affordable rental housing units.

Could my colleague give us an idea of where the government is at in terms of that recommendation? How many units has that been done for to date?

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Madam Speaker, there are two things I touched upon. One is the rapid housing initiative, which is for a quick turnaround. It has already accomplished the objectives we had and is now generating up to 15,000 homes. Second, is the housing accelerator fund, which looks much more into the future and builds up a reward system.

Making it exclusive to one particular need, in my view, is not the right approach. It also has different objectives, which are very defined and provide more answers to housing affordability needs in the medium to long term.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Madam Speaker, as a federal government, it is important that we acknowledge that, yes, we have a lot of work to do and we need to make a difference in housing nationally. We have come forth with wonderful programs, whether it is the co-investment fund, the rapid housing initiative, the housing accelerator fund, the Canada housing benefit and the right to housing, which the Conservative Party voted against.

My question for my colleague is this. Which one of those federal programs is having the most impact in his riding?

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Madam Speaker, the beauty of the various programs under our national housing strategy is that each one of them is making an impact. I am from Ottawa, as Nepean is part of Ottawa, and almost every single program of the federal government is making a major impact on providing affordable housing and affordable rental units to the people in Ottawa. As I said, we also have to focus on how we can improve housing starts.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Madam Speaker, I always appreciate hearing my colleague speak. However, as he realizes, the seeds of this housing crisis started with Paul Martin's elimination of a national housing program. The fertilizer was the dismal decade of the Harper regime where there was simply no funding for affordable housing.

The government has been pressed by the NDP, by members for Vancouver East and Burnaby South, to build more affordable housing, but it has chosen to prioritize things like a $750-billion liquidity support package for banks, $30 billion going every year to overseas tax havens, and it is a crisis.

Would the member admit that the government has to act immediately and has to treat the crisis with the scale and scope required, which means immediate investments to build housing across the country?

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Madam Speaker, the fact of the matter is, without anybody suggesting it, that the moment we came to power in 2015, from day one, we have focused on housing.

Our national housing strategy is a very defined strategy with various excellent programs. We have partnered with provincial authorities and governments, which have the major responsibility on housing, but we have not stopped telling them that it is their exclusive responsibility. We have stepped up with real money in the national housing strategy and various programs on the affordability crisis for Canadians.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Madam Speaker, the member talks about the beauty of all the government programs, but it has a lot problems actually delivering on them. For example, on the incentive for new homebuyers, almost nobody has taken it up because it does not work. I think of the Canada Infrastructure Bank and all the money it says it has for projects, but nothing is happening.

Will the member not recognize that it is fine to say the words, but things are not getting done on the ground?

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Madam Speaker, one thing I can agree with member on is that the funds are available. As I said, the problem is the supply, as the money is available for developers. The problem is that we are not seeing new houses getting built by developers. That core issue has to be dealt with first.