Here's where more than $600M in federal funding for new N.S. housing has gone

Yahoo

4 days ago

Thirty-eight people experiencing homelessness in Halifax could soon have an apartment to call home, as a result of a deeply affordable housing project set to open its doors in October.
Ozanam Place will provide studio and one-bedroom apartments for people age 50 and over who have been selected from a Halifax Regional Municipality list of unhoused individuals. Rents will be based on 30 per cent of a person's income.
"They will be able to lead a more dignified and a happier lifestyle," said Ray Burke, president of the Halifax Particular Council for the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, which owns the building.
Burke said the non-profit's project would not have been possible without $11 million in federal funding from the now-lapsed rapid housing initiative program.
"There still is a vast need for this type of financial support, particularly for non-profits that want to get involved," said Burke, who believes the housing crisis remains "quite significant."
A recent survey showed the number of people experiencing homelessness in Halifax has doubled from two years prior.
But, projects like Ozanam Place represent a small fraction of units being built in Nova Scotia with the help of funding from the national housing strategy's "federal supply initiatives." That's according to Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada data analyzed by CBC News.
"Very few units that we have created through the national housing strategy ... are actually deeply affordable and targeted to people in greatest need," said affordable housing researcher Catherine Leviten-Reid, an associate professor at Cape Breton University.
Ottawa has provided more than $600 million in loans and grants for new housing projects in Nova Scotia announced between 2018 and 2024. This excludes the housing accelerator fund, another major program which aims to fast-track home construction and cut red tape.
The data shows that of the more than 2,000 new units being built, nearly two-thirds come from the apartment construction loan program (ACLP), which provides low-cost loans to developers.
"That program is creating supply, but it's not the right kind of supply for people who need it the most," said Leviten-Reid.
She points to the program's definition of affordability as a problem. At least 20 per cent of units must have rents at or below 30 per cent of the median family income in a given market.
That's an issue, Leviten-Reid said, because the calculation can include homeowners, who tend to have higher incomes than renters, and other higher-income people.
The program's affordability requirement can also be met if rents are established based on another affordable housing program or initiative that supports the development.
In a statement, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said new housing supply "allows higher-income households to purchase or rent newer units," with existing and more affordable units becoming available for those with lower incomes.
The CMHC added that other national housing strategy programs are specifically designed to create and repair affordable housing, pointing to a bilateral agreement Nova Scotia and Ottawa signed in 2018. The agreement represents joint funding of $543.6 million.
The largest ACLP loans include $157.5 million for 350 units of the Richmond Yards development in Halifax's North End and $115.5 million for a 324-unit development on Joseph Howe Drive that developer BANC Group describes as "a luxurious twelve-storey multi-use building."
Leviten-Reid would like to see far more units built where affordability is defined based on the tenant's income, like those at Ozanam Place.
In a statement, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada said work is underway to establish Build Canada Homes — an entity the Liberals promised to create during the federal election to oversee construction of affordable housing in Canada.
"The Government of Canada recognizes the urgent need for more deeply affordable housing, including non-market and co-operative housing," the statement said.
MORE TOP STORIES