Debates of June 11th, 2025

Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates (A), 2025-26

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Chair, since becoming Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, has the minister ever visited a homeless shelter?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada]

Mr. Chair, I spent 10 years as mayor of Vancouver and a lot of time in homeless shelters and opening homeless shelters—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. member has the floor.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Chair, when the minister was mayor, he promised to end homelessness by 2018. Instead, it increased by 40%. Why should Canadians believe anything he says?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Chair, I am proud of the work that the city did to house thousands of people who were homeless in Vancouver and build social and supportive housing.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Chair, can the minister tell us what age group has the highest rate of chronic homelessness?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Chair, homelessness is a huge challenge across the country, and that is why it is a top priority for us to tackle it with affordable housing.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Chair, let me help the minister: It is seniors. At what rate do seniors experience chronic homelessness?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Chair, it is important that nobody of any age is forced to be homeless, and the investment needs to be made—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. member has the floor.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Chair, according to a report by the minister's own department, 40% of seniors experience homelessness. Does he really think that is acceptable?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Chair, as I have said, homelessness is something that we all need to tackle together. We need to work together at all levels of government to solve this.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Chair, two seniors in my community of Vaughan were forced to live in their car throughout the winter.

If the minister does not know the answer to my questions, what will he tell them?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Chair, I will tell them we are about to make the biggest investment in tackling homelessness that Canada has ever seen, and we hope to have their support.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Chair, do you know what the current population of seniors in Canada is?

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

Questions go through the Chair.

The hon. minister has the floor.

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Chair, I do not have the number at my fingertips, but we have to make sure seniors are not at risk of homelessness.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Chair, as of July 1, 2023, 18.9% of the population, or 7.6 million people, were seniors. By 2030, that number will rise to 22.5%. What is the plan to make sure that there is affordable housing for seniors?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Chair, the plan is to build more affordable housing across Canada than ever before in Canadian history.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Chair, if the minister cared about seniors, he would know the critical information.

Why has he done nothing to bring the price of homes down for seniors?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Chair, the Liberals are very focused on rolling out this plan. We have already delivered a GST cut for first-time homebuyers, and we will continue that work.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Chair, according to TD, the government's housing target of 500,000 new starts per year is unrealistic. The minister is already known for breaking promises.

Does he agree with TD?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Chair, the Liberals have a big endeavour ahead of us to get to 500,000 housing starts a year, but we are committed to getting there, working with industry and all the provincial and—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. member.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Chair, Vancouver became the least affordable housing market in North America during the minister's disastrous tenure as mayor.

Why should Canadians trust him to be in charge of the housing industry nationally?