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House Hansard - 237

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 23, 2023 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 237 - Oct/23/23
Mr. Peter Fragiskatos (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, Lib.)
  • Oct/23/23 6:56:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am getting to know my colleague more and more; we work together on the HUMA committee. This is the parliamentary committee that is primarily responsible for housing, an incredibly important issue for this entire country. In her community, my community and everyone's community, housing is the main focus of discussion around kitchen tables, and rent is going up. I will acknowledge that, first and foremost. Canadians are directing more of their income toward housing expenses. It is a provincial area of jurisdiction in the main; however, and I emphasize this point, all orders of government need to collaborate and be around the table to think of ways that they can help and what they can offer the situation in terms of making it better for the everyday person. The member mentions that rent has gone up 23% in her community. In my own community of London, Ontario, the number is 20%. That is not an acceptable situation, and to address that, we have to understand what underpins all of this. The housing crisis in front of us, including the crisis in terms of rent, is ultimately a function of a supply crisis. That is what drives this. When demand is high and supply is limited in anything, housing included, the result will be expensive. That is what we see here. In response, the federal government has recognized this situation and lifted the GST on the construction of apartment buildings. This is something that is especially important if we are going to incent building. We have to work with the private sector. In this case, the private sector is the homebuilding sector. I have talked to home builders in my own community, and they have looked at this measure with great promise. This is something that will help, especially in the coming years, to make up for the lack of supply. Dream Unlimited is not in my city of London, but it is in Toronto, the largest city in the country. It is going to build an extra 5,000 units of housing as a result of this measure alone. That is only one example. The national housing strategy is also very important in this conversation. As members know, it is a multi-faceted program. There is one element of it, the national coinvestment fund, that sees low-interest loans offered through the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, or CMHC, to builders. In my city, this has resulted in Joan's Place, a great not-for-profit initiative that was carried out by Youth Opportunities Unlimited in support of young mothers and expectant mothers who are looking for housing. This is how we get things done. It is by working in collaboration, not only with different orders of government but also with the not-for-profit sector. I also point to Robert Nicklin Place in the member's community; she knows it very well. Low-interest loans via CMHC in the amount of $46 million led to the construction of 164 units in the community of Port Moody—Coquitlam, which I visited. It is a beautiful place; it is going through a challenging time, but this is one thing that can be done to get to better results. That particular project is built near transit, schools and a day care facility. It is built near a park, a library, a hospital and a vibrant community centre. This is how we create housing that is meaningful. We create homes for people and build partnerships to make that happen. It is about the experience. It is about making sure that a home is a place that can have purpose and allow for individuals, students, individuals living with disabilities, seniors and all these folks who are in need of support, to have better outcomes. That is what we will continue to work toward.
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