Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to the member for giving me the opportunity to say how concerned all members of the House are by the difficult circumstances some of our families find themselves in. I will have an important announcement to make on that matter soon. I just want to repeat that in the campaign, our government promised that it would be looking into EI special benefits, including maternity, parental, and compassionate care benefits.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her passion, which enables me to give specific details on the Canada child benefit. This is the most significant social policy innovation in a generation. It is going to take the families of 500,000 people in Canada, 300,000 of them children, out of poverty.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to take this opportunity to repeat some of our commitments, as the hon. member kindly made an allusion to seniors' issues. We have signalled in the past few months how important seniors' issues are to our government. For instance, we have increased the guaranteed income supplement by up to $950 dollars per year, which is going to take 13,000 seniors out of poverty.

Employment  Mr. Speaker, we are very concerned with jobs across Canada and with the particular situation in Alberta. We are there to help, to support growing the economy both in the short term and the long term with sound environmental, sustainable, as well as sound social policies, of which EI is an important component.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, our government is indeed re-establishing federal leadership in housing. Through budget 2016, we made an historic $2.3 billion investment for urgent housing needs, including almost $600 million to support social housing and $200 million to support seniors housing. In Toronto, this represents an additional housing investment of over $150 million.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take the opportunity my colleague is giving me to remind members of just how committed the new Canadian government is to improving social housing. In the last budget, we allocated $2.3 billion to affordable housing, a historic investment that will make a huge difference in the lives of hundreds of millions of Canadians.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Châteauguay—Lacolle for supporting the fight against homelessness. Our government is committed to supporting communities in their efforts to prevent and reduce homelessness through innovative approaches. Yesterday, I had the honour of announcing $12.5 million in new money for more innovative solutions to reducing homelessness, particularly among indigenous Canadians, youth, women fleeing violence, and veterans.

Seniors  Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member for Vimy and thank her for her excellent work on behalf of seniors. We restored the eligibility age for old age security to 65, which will keep 100,000 seniors out of poverty. We also increased the guaranteed income supplement by up to $950, which will help 900,000 seniors and lift 13,000 of them out of poverty.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be part of a government that is both sensitive and sensible. We are sensitive to the economic situation across Canada, in particular where a number of Canadians are feeling left out of the labour market. We are sensible because we are investing very strongly in our economy to build now and for the future of our nation.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, I am very honoured to be part of a government that is investing both in the quality and the quantity of services delivered to unemployed Canadians across Canada. We have done that very significantly in the budget last year. We are very pleased that we are offering better services and better benefits targeted to both in terms of responding to the needs and to the expectations of Canadians, and with rebuilding our economy based on strong fiscal policy and very good infrastructure programs.

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), as of March 31, 2016, as per Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s “Quarterly Financial Report”, available on its website at www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca, the number of CMHC mortgage loans in force was 2,625,329. In response to (b), the dollar value was $520 billion.

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, the federal government’s homelessness partnering strategy, HPS, aims to prevent and reduce homelessness in Canada. The strategy provides direct financial support to 61 urban communities as well as aboriginal and rural and remote communities across Canada. This direct financial support gives communities flexibility to invest in proven approaches that reduce homelessness at the local level.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, I will start by thanking the member for Scarborough Centre for her hard work on behalf of all seniors. This government believes that all Canadians need and deserve housing that is safe, affordable, and secure. To give Canadians greater access to affordable housing, last year's budget invested a record $2.3 billion in assisting affordable housing, particularly the needs of seniors.

Seniors  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe for her excellent question and the outstanding work she does for seniors in her riding. Today, I am very pleased to announce that we are launching a call for proposals for community-based projects under the new horizons for seniors program.

Seniors  Mr. Speaker, let me first thank my two colleagues from Hamilton East—Stoney Creek and Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas for their very hard work in support of Hamilton residents. Our government understands the importance of supporting seniors who are or may be at risk of becoming socially isolated.