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House Hansard - 42

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 21, 2022 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 42 - Mar/21/22
Ms. Soraya Martinez Ferrada (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing), Lib.)
  • Mar/21/22 6:50:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this government is proud of its record of putting roofs over Canadians' heads, and I would like to thank my colleague for Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry for the opportunity to speak about what we are doing for Canadians and how we are tackling the housing affordability crisis in this country. We know that the main way to address housing affordability is to address supply. That is why this government launched the national housing strategy in 2017, the first of its kind in Canada. It is an ambitious 10-year plan backed by more than $72 billion in investments. It is supply-oriented and includes a range of initiatives that address housing affordability from every angle that would have an impact. Since 2015, we have invested over $30 billion, creating and repairing nearly 480,000 units in Canada. That is 10,000 homes for tens of thousands of Canadians. It includes homes in my colleague's region of eastern Ontario. In Brockville, the Marguerita Residence Corporation is building an 88-unit, affordable housing complex for seniors thanks to the federal funding delivered through the Canada-Ontario community housing initiative. A major partnership with Habitat Humanity is also giving low-income families across the country a chance to access the dream of home ownership, including in my colleague's city of Cornwall. These are just a few examples from one region. The successes are repeated across the country. Yes, we recognize that we need to and can do more, and that we must do that. Since the last election, this government has set out an ambitious new agenda for further activities to make housing more affordable for all Canadians. We have planned new initiatives, such as the housing accelerated fund to help cities speed up the development process, a rent-to-own program to help renters get on the path to ownership and an expanded access to funding to support green home retrofits. We will be working with the provinces, territories and municipalities to develop a fairness in real estate action plan to ensure that there is more protection and transparency for homebuyers and renters. We will also be collaborating with indigenous partners to co-develop an urban, rural and northern indigenous strategy and Canada's first-ever national indigenous housing centre. Even as we are proud of our successes in improving housing affordability, we look forward to doing more, and I look forward to the exchange with my colleague on this issue.
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Context: House Hansard - 42 - Mar/21/22
Ms. Soraya Martinez Ferrada
  • Mar/21/22 6:54:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this government recognizes the urgency and importance of this issue, which is why our government has made it a priority. We implemented Canada's first national housing strategy, and it is why we continue to deliver on these programs and work towards the goal of housing affordability for all. I urge my colleague and members of all sides of this House to work with their constituencies to make sure that they use the programs that are available to them. They are there for Canadians just as this government is there for Canadians. I hope that this time around the party opposite will support the measures that we will be addressing in the future on this problem.
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