OTTAWA, ON, Feb. 24, 2022 /CNW/ - Everyone in Canada deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. The pandemic has made it clearer than ever that affordable housing is key to Canada's recovery.
This is why, today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Canada's Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, in collaboration with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), hosted the virtual 2022 National Housing Supply Summit.
Over 300 attendees from across the country actively participated in the discussions addressing Canada's housing supply challenges and potential collaborative solutions. These included provincial, territorial and municipal partners, Indigenous leaders, as well as non-profit and private sectors.
Along with Minister Hussen, Keynote speakers included the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. Other key participants from the government included the Honourable Daniel Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs, Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, the Honourable Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing), and Paul Chiang, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Diversity and Inclusion). FCM's President, Joanne Vanderheyden and CEO, Carole Saab also took part in the event.
Other notable speakers were the Honourable Rochelle Squires, Manitoba Minister of Families, Mayor of Halifax Regional Municipality, Mike Savage, Montreal Mayor, Valérie Plante, CMHC President and CEO, Romy Bowers and Kaitlin Schwan, National Director the Women's National Housing and Homelessness Network, among several other housing stakeholders and experts.
All agreed that collaboration is crucial to meet the complex challenge of housing supply and affordability in Canada.
From meeting the unique needs of marginalized and racialized communities to those of northern, urban and rural Indigenous communities; from the challenges faced when planning in rural and remote communities, to what innovations are ripe for disrupting the housing supply system, these are a few of the hard questions that were tackled by participants.
Minister Hussen reaffirmed the Federal Government's commitment to improving Canada's housing sector, by tackling challenges from every angle through the National Housing Strategy. This past week alone, the Minister took part in cross-country announcements, providing federal support to address varying needs in regions across the country.
From $80 million targeting supply-chain solutions in northern and remote housing through the Housing Supply Challenge, to hundreds of new affordable units through a $44.5 million National Housing Co-Investment Fund investment in Vancouver, to over 1,400 new homes for persons experiencing homelessness across the province of Québec thanks to the Rapid Housing Strategy – the National Housing Strategy is helping address unique housing needs from coast to coast to coast.
The 2022 National Housing Supply Summit was a successful open dialogue, which will lead to important collaboration over the weeks, months and years to come. As Minister Hussen provided closing remarks for the Summit, he noted the impact this collaboration will lead to on the housing sector is only just the beginning.
Quotes
"Everyone deserves a safe and affordable place to call home, and for that to happen, we need to build more homes, faster. Since 2015, our government has helped house more than 2 million Canadians through new builds, repairs, renovations, and rental subsidies. Today's Summit has provided an ideal opportunity for representatives from across the Canadian housing sector to come together to unlock barriers to creating housing supply and build on our progress so far. That's what the National Housing Strategy is all about." – The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion
"The role of municipalities in tackling affordable housing supply is fundamental. Affordable housing options for every Canadian are central to driving inclusive economic growth, and progress on housing challenges and reaching our shared goal of ending chronic homelessness requires the kind of partnership today's summit embodies. FCM is proud to work with governments and partners to ensure Canadians have access to the right kind of housing supply." – Joanne Vanderheyden, President, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and Mayor of the Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc, Ontario
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As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. CMHC's aim is that by 2030, everyone in Canada has a home they can afford, and that meets their needs. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.
SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Arevig Afarian, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, [email protected]; Media Relations, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), [email protected]
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