Co-operative Housing Association
of Eastern Ontario

Co-ops and Housing Issues in the News!

The Ontario government is abusing a federal program intended to create affordable housing and using it to benefit the private sector, according to Councillor Alex Munter.

Last month, the city unveiled a strategy to build new social housing in Ottawa. The city, which has about 25,000 units now, also has a waiting list 14,000 names long. The strategy will make use of a federal program announced late last year to provide funding to build the new homes. The $245-million national program will translate into as many as 10,000 housing units in Ontario.

Under that program, the federal government will provide $25,000 per unit to subsidize builders, whether private developers or not-for-profit firms. In Ottawa, that would likely mean 250-300 new units by the end of the year.

The problem, according to Mr. Munter, chairman of the city's committee responsible for social services, is that the province is getting in the way of it by putting conditions on the program. Specifically, the province wants to limit the number of units that can be built by municipal non-profit corporations, such as Ottawa Housing and City Living, the city's two social housing agencies. A maximum of 25 to 50 per cent of the units could be built by those non-profit organizations, creating more opportunities for the private sector.

But according to the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, that makes sense.

"The program is also to stimulate the private sector rental construction industry so that we have a viable industry in Ontario," said Scott Harcourt, a manager in the ministry's market housing branch.

Mr. Munter, however, says that the Ontario government has no business setting the terms of the project, since they are not the ones funding it. The federal money is being matched by the city and its own partners. The province is contributing only four per cent of the subsidy, in the form of a provincial sales tax rebate.

The province's leverage is based on the fact the ministry administers the program, but Mr. Munter says it's an abuse power. "For four per cent of the pay, they want 100 per cent of the say," he says. "They want us to give the grants to their buddies in the development industry. Essentially, they want affirmative action for developers," he says. "Whereas we are saying we want it to be based on the merits of the program."