The release of a Government of Alberta report on the state of social housing in the province is attracting some controversy today (see CBC report here). The government report purportedly shows (I have not yet acquired a copy) that no provincial money has been invested in the construction of new social housing since 2011. This revelation is controversial because it is out of step with the province’s ambitious plan to end homelessness by 2019. This goal was set in 2008 by then premier Ed Stelmach and it was accompanied by a commitment to spend 3.3 billion dollars on housing and homeless services. It seems what money was spent on ending homelessness has not found its way into ‘bricks and mortar’ projects.
This is particularly troubling for a city like Edmonton where I currently live. In 2011, just as provincial dollars for social housing were purportedly disappearing, the Edmonton Area Community Plan on Housing and Supports 2011 – 2015 was completed and released. This plan was formulated to guide community efforts in addressing housing needs in the Edmonton area over a five year period. One of the focus areas of this plan was housing supply. Among the goals was increasing the supply of market and non-market rental units that are suitable, adequate, accessible, and affordable.
In 2011, the need for affordable housing was clear. The plan estimated the gap in non-market affordable housing to be 19,000 units and it forecasted that this gap would grow to 22,000 units by 2015. The significance of this gap was clear to the stakeholders who were consulted and the committee that prepared the report who wrote,
The shortage of non-market and market affordable housing in the community was the greatest need brought forward in the consultations. Affordable housing is needed by a broad range of lower-income residents across a range of demographics, including some seniors, single parent families, newcomers, Aboriginal households, young families and those who are working at low income jobs (p. 42).
So it seems that just as the provincial funding tap was diverted or worse turned off cities such as Edmonton were identifying affordable housing an immediate need. Edmonton Homeward Trust’s 2014 Annual Report identifies two social housing projects underway and a handful of renovations to existing social housing projects. But these appear to be units of supportive housing rather than private subsidized units. It remains to be seen how deep the need for affordable housing has grown in the last five years. The release of the provincial government report and the revelations it contains also begs the perennial question, why is it so difficult to see non-market affordable housing manifest on the ground when the demand for it grows every year and politicians commit to investing in it?
Joggerfry 