The federal government made $4 billion available for Canadian municipalities to address their housing issues, but — without any solid explanation — none of that money is coming to Canada’s Most Notorious City.
City administration applied to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) last year for roughly $19 million in grant funding to remove barriers and support the development of “affordable, inclusive, equitable and climate-resilient communities,” a March 25 city council report explained.
City hall developed an action plan with 11 accompanying goals to support the application, with administration saying in the proposal that it could develop an extra 779 housing units within three years.
CMHC notified city hall on Feb. 29 that the federal government had not selected the community to receive funding, the report said. City administration met with CMHC reps in March to discuss ways the latter could support the city’s housing objectives, but the reps could not provide feedback on how the city’s application had been assessed or why it wasn’t selected.
CMHC indicated that Ottawa received 544 applications — totalling $8 billion in requests — from across Canada but only approved 178 of them, the report added. The corporation was also unable to identify which Saskatchewan municipalities received funding until the federal government signed the agreements.
“It was a competitive process,” Michelle Sanson, director of planning and development, told council.
Coun. Crystal Froese thought it was unfortunate that Ottawa did not select Moose Jaw’s application but understood the competition that existed for money for new housing. She hoped that Moose Jaw’s application competed against similarly sized cities because its needs are different compared to bigger municipalities like Toronto.
Moose Jaw did compete against other bigger cities, unfortunately, Sanson replied. Meanwhile, it’s unlikely that this program will be available next year, based on the conversation with CMHC.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, April 8.
