Mr. Chair, everyone deserves a place where they can raise their family, plan for the future and belong to a community. Unfortunately, families across the country are struggling with the rising cost of living, especially the rising cost of housing, both for homeowners and for renters.
Housing is a basic human need. It is also an economic necessity.
Our economy is built by people, and people need homes to live in. In other words, investing in housing is good social and economic policy. That is what the Government of Canada has been doing since 2016. With each successive budget, we have made major housing investments, including launching Canada's first-ever national housing strategy. This comprehensive, $82-billion, 10-year plan will ensure hundreds of thousands of Canadians have a place to call home, particularly for those most in need, and it is succeeding by addressing housing affordability from every possible angle.
The greatest part of the strategy, the greatest driver of affordability, is creating more housing supply and building more homes around price points to make housing more affordable, whether someone is a renter or a homeowner. Unfortunately, in many parts of the country, we are seeing a housing supply shortage, and we need to build more homes for our growing population.
According to research by CMHC, we need to build 3.5 million homes by 2030 to achieve affordability. This is above and beyond the current rate of construction. That is why, in budget 2022, we made housing supply a top priority. Budget 2022 introduced initiatives that will put our country on the path to double the rate of housing construction and meet Canada's housing needs over the next decade. That is why we included measures to build on that momentum in budget 2023.
A new initiative that I am especially excited about is the housing accelerator fund. This $4-billion program will help local governments cut red tape and build the housing that we need. This summer, we will start to receive proposals from local governments that increase housing supply and align with federal priorities to create dense, affordable and inclusive communities.
This multi-year initiative will remove barriers to the construction of new housing at the municipal level.
It will help cities and towns reduce their backlogs and get more shovels in the ground faster. It will create an estimated 100,000 new housing units in the initial phase and lead Canada to doubling housing construction. We will work closely with our municipal, provincial and territorial partners to develop this initiative, and I am confident that it will bring a much-needed systemic change that will make a long-lasting difference.
In addition to this fund, we are also reinvesting in proven programs that are making a difference, like the rapid housing initiative. This program was created in the early stages of the pandemic to respond to the urgent needs of those experiencing homelessness or those who are at risk of experiencing homelessness. The first two rounds of the rapid housing initiative exceeded expectations and are quickly creating more than 10,000 permanent, deeply affordable housing units. Now we are investing another $1.5 billion over two years to extend the initiative, and this is expected to create over 4,500 new deeply affordable housing units, with 25% of those units dedicated exclusively to women-focused housing.
The national housing co-investment fund is another program that has built or renovated more than 300,000 affordable housing units for Canada's most vulnerable people. Our government has advanced $2.9 billion in funding under this fund. We also aim for the fund to become more flexible and easier to access, allowing for the creation and renovation of 21,000 affordable rental units for Canadians who need them the most.
We have also reallocated $500 million from the co-investment fund to launch a new co-operative housing development program. Co-operative housing projects will also receive support through the $1 billion in loans reallocated from the rental construction financing initiative. We are working closely on this program with the co-operative sector, a sector that has, for decades, played an important role in providing affordable housing in communities across the country.
While building new housing is critical to housing affordability, so is modernizing some of Canada's aging rental housing. Some of the programs I have already mentioned address this issue.
Now, we are about to launch a new program that will make all new rental buildings more energy-efficient and affordable to operate. It will also extend their lifespan. Ensuring that we create more housing supply is only part of the equation. We have also introduced measures to protect homeowners from unfair practices like blind bidding or being forced to waive inspections. For example, we are working with provinces and territories to jointly develop a homebuyers bill of rights, backed by federal investments of $5 million over two years.
We are also directly supporting low-income Canadians by providing rent assistance through a one-time top-up to the Canada housing benefit.
Recently, to support low-income renters in these challenging times, we have provided a $500 payment via the one-time top-up to the Canada housing benefit. Another very important initiative is Canada's homelessness strategy, reaching home, which supports the most vulnerable. The Government of Canada is investing nearly $4 billion over nine years, a doubling of the funding under this program. The program supports communities in establishing coordinated access. This is an integrated, systems-based approach that prioritizes people most in need of assistance and matches individuals to appropriate housing and services in a streamlined and coordinated way.
Reaching home is having a significant impact. In its first three years, it has funded over 5,000 projects, which helped place over 46,000 people experiencing homelessness in more stable housing, while over 87,000 people benefited from prevention and from shelter diversion services. These temporary spaces during COVID were also put in place when shelters had to reduce their capacity to ensure physical distancing. In fact, over 214,000 temporary accommodation placements were made to support individuals in need. Reaching home is playing an important role in supporting the national housing strategy's target of reducing chronic homelessness by half by 2027 or 2028. It also contributes to the federal government's commitment to ending chronic homelessness by 2030.
What I have mentioned today are just a few of the many important housing initiatives we have introduced. However, this should give members an overview of the breadth and depth of our commitment to housing. We are leaving no stone unturned in our work to ensure that every Canadian has dignity through calling a place “home”.
Our goal is to foster prosperous communities where everyone can thrive.
I thank members again for their time today, and I am happy to answer any questions they have regarding CMHC's main estimates.
