Social Policy in Ontario

New funding for affordable housing is welcome news

Posted on August 17, 2014 in Inclusion Delivery System

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TheStar.com – Opinion/Editorials – The province and federal governments should commit $864 million each for repairs to Toronto Community Housing units to ensure we don’t lose affordable housing stock.
Aug 17 2014.   Editorial

Toronto has a waiting list the size of a small city in line for affordable housing units.

There are 169,766 people representing 92,241 households on Toronto Community Housing Corp.’s waiting list — and of those, 4,820 are currently homeless. Many others are victims of abuse or chronically ill.

So it was very good news this past week when the federal and provincial governments announced they are dedicating $801 million over five years for new and affordable housing in Ontario. Of that, Toronto will get $20.5 million in the first year alone.

The agreement, the second since 2011, has already proved its value with the building of 850 units in Toronto created by TCHC in their West Don Lands, Regent Park and the Railway Lands projects.

Still, there’s another problem at play that must be dealt with if Toronto is to continue to make headway in housing low- and moderate-income families. That is making sure the affordable housing units TCHC already has aren’t lost because of a lack of funding to keep them in good, livable repair.

Stories abound about bad lighting, broken elevators and heating, ventilation and plumbing systems that don’t work in some of buildings. Worse, some of the units have become uninhabitable. In fact, they’re in such critical condition and require such extensive repairs that they have been boarded up. Already, 135 much-needed units are out of commission.

Toronto Community Housing says it urgently needs $2.6 billion over the next 10 years to prevent the 58,500 units — housing 164,000 tenants — it currently oversees from reaching a “critical state of disrepair,” that would require them to be abandoned.

It’s looking for $864 million from the province and the same amount from Ottawa over 10 years. The good news here is that the city has already allocated its one-third share and some of that money is beginning to make a dent on repairs.

Last year the corporation spent $60 million on fixing its buildings. This year it will spend $128 million.

Still, the social and economic costs of not completing the repairs with federal and provincial monies over the next 10 years are unacceptable. As Greg Spearn, TCHC’s interim president and CEO, points out, closing more buildings would mean “increases in homelessness and associated costs related to crime and health care.”

The Ontario and federal governments got the first step right when they announced more funding for new housing. Now they need to dedicate the necessary funds to protect the affordable housing stock TCHC currently manages.

< http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2014/08/17/new_funding_for_affordable_housing_is_welcome_news_editorial.html >

Tags: budget, homelessness, housing, poverty, standard of living

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