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2024 Providing More Affordable Housing for Women in Canada

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Published in: GENERAL

Category:

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Sub-Category:

GENERAL

Resolution Number:

700.10.41

Club:

North Toronto

Province:

Ontario

Year:

2024

Status:

Open

Background:

Improvements in the Federal Housing funding criteria are required along with directives to deliver more units and to identify female households that require core housing needs as a primary target for housing creation. CMHC statistics show that 18% of women are renters versus 16% of men. For lone-parent family households, 27% are female-led compared to 16% male-led (CMHC Website, 2019).
Since the 2017 enactment of the Federal National Housing Strategy Act (NHS), there has not been a measurable creation of housing for the 530,000 families in housing need and the funding for construction of 160,000 new affordable housing units originally promised (CHMC 2023). There is no standard definition of affordability within the NHS programs. Spending is presented as for affordable units but may require households to devote more than 30% of their total before tax income as defined by the CMHC. A requirement for affordability to be maintained for 30-40 years may result in stable rental housing that does not expire and new construction quotas may be imposed on municipalities and coax private developers with new financial instruments, tax rebates and regulatory incentives. As women are the majority of those affected by the affordable housing issues, it is important for the Government to take these steps to improve the situation.

Comments:

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW Canada) urges the Government of Canada and relevant ministries to require that provincial, municipal governments, and private developers applying for federal funds under the National Housing Strategy (NHS) meet the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) criteria for affordable housing, and that the outcome of units created be measured and reported each year;
AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that BPW Canada urges the Government of Canada to require that as part of funding to municipalities that municipalities and developers be required to add 20% affordable rental housing, restricted to minimum 30-40 years of affordable rental, to their proposals under the NHS, funded by means of added density, tax subsidies and/or low-cost loans to incentivize the building of affordable units;

AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that BPW Canada urges the Government of Canada, through the NHS programs to ensure that the segment of the population with core housing needs that is middle income female household core need be recognized and provided with targeted funding for the creation of affordable rental units.

Article ID: 22295