Housing policy news: June 2024

June 30, 2024

The latest developments in housing policy from across Canada:
Housing policy news – June 2024

NATIONAL

  • Federal government launches Co-operative Housing Development Program

    In early June, the federal government launched a $1.5 billion program to support the development of co-operative housing. The program was initially announced in the 2022 federal budget, with the goal of constructing over 6,000 new co-operative units. Co-operative housing is one of the few housing options that has historically provided long-term affordability outside the private market. The program is one of the most significant federal investments in non-market housing, following decades of underfunding. Co-operative housing providers will be able to apply for funding as of July 15, 2024.

  • The Federal Housing Advocate sends new Annual Report to the Minister of Housing

    The Federal Housing Advocate’s annual report covers various key issues and actions its office undertook during 2023-2024, including the urgent need for non-market housing, financialization of housing and the harm it causes people in Canada, the right to housing of Indigenous people, and upholding the rights of people living in homeless encampments, among others. The Advocate made various recommendations on how the federal government can address these issues to realize the right to housing, such as by aligning the National Housing Strategy with the legislated purpose of the National Housing Strategy Act. The Advocate made it clear that the housing and homelessness situation in Canada has reached a crisis point and emphasized their role in listening to people on the front lines of the crisis and amplifying their voices to decision-makers.

  • Federal committee studying the impact of investments on housing affordability and homelessness

    The Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) is currently undertaking a study on the current state of housing affordability and homelessness across Canada. The study will explore the impact of federal investments in purpose-built rental, affordable, social, rent-geared-to-income, and co-operative housing between February 2006 and October 2015. In response to the committee’s request for submissions from the public, the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative (CHEC) submitted key data showing that 90 per cent of the homes built through federal investments between 2001 and 2016 were for home ownership, while minimal rental housing was built during this period, which has contributed to the current housing crisis. CHEC also highlighted the insufficient reporting on federal housing data and a lack of transparency since the mid-1990s, which has made it difficult to track the number of units built and households assisted during that time. To address these issues, CHEC’s submission recommended several measures to improve federal housing reporting and transparency. The Social Housing and Human Rights Campaign also delivered a series of recommendations to expand and maintain social housing. 


ATLANTIC CANADA

New brunswick

  • Renters’ rights group releases housing policy priorities ahead of provincial election

    ACORN New Brunswick has released its policy platform ahead of the upcoming provincial election. The platform lays out a series of housing policy priorities  with a focus on addressing the escalating housing crisis  including implementing permanent rent control, a rental registry, and increased funding for subsidized housing. The group is also calling for increased social assistance rates, as current recipients cannot afford the average rent for a one-bedroom unit. These policy proposals have been made in other parts of Canada, and implemented together, they can help alleviate the housing and homelessness crisis. The platform was released during a rally in Moncton held in early June, and was attended by members of the Green Party, Liberal Party, and NDP. The provincial election is currently scheduled for October 21, 2024.

CENTRAL CANADA

ONTARIO

  • City of London considering a renovictions bylaw

    London city council is currently considering a bylaw to tackle renovictions, a tactic that has been on the rise over the last few years across Ontario, wherein landlords evict renters paying below market rents under the guise of conducting renovations, only to rent their units to new renters at higher rates. If approved by council, the bylaw would require landlords who wish to use an eviction notice for renovations to obtain a $400 license from the city, which would require a qualified professional to confirm that the unit must be vacant in order to complete the renovations. Some councilors have also proposed steep fines for landlords who break these rules. London Property Management Association, the city’s largest organization of landlords, has come out against the draft bylaw, arguing that the provincial Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) already fully protects renters, and that they will pursue litigation based on an excess of jurisdiction if the bylaw is passed. However, renter advocates note that many renter protections under the RTA are not enforced, putting the onus on municipalities to provide more robust protections. Hamilton was the first city in Ontario to enact a renovictions bylaw and Toronto is currently developing its own, based on the Hamilton model. 

  • Hamilton moves closer to implementing a ‘demovictions’ bylaw

    Hamilton city council is expected to pass a demovictions bylaw, which would further strengthen protections for renters included in its recently passed bylaw on renovictions. Demovictions occur when landlords evict renters from a building to demolish and redevelop it into new units. If passed, the Rental Housing Replacement By-law would require landlords and developers who seek to demolish midsize rental buildings and replace them with large towers to obtain a permit from the city. Landlords would also be required to provide replacement units in new developments, inform renters of their rights under provincial legislation, and provide renters with financial compensation, including for moving expenses. Demovictions are expected to increase as land values continue to rise and there is more demand for housing in the city. The goal of the bylaw is to preserve and protect existing affordable rental units.

  • Ontario is set to receive $4.7 billion from the federal government for housing and infrastructure

    The Ontario government recently renewed a Canada Community-Building Fund agreement with the federal government. As part of the agreement, Ontario will receive $4.7 billion over the next five years for housing and related infrastructure, to be allocated to municipalities. The province says that the funds will go towards increasing the capacity of the non-profit sector, creating a provincial strategy around innovative types of housing, such as modular housing, and leveraging public lands to increase housing supply. To support households in greatest need, advocates say that the government must prioritize allocating this funding to the non-profit housing sector to create non-market housing options.

QUEBEC

  • New report shows that the housing crisis in Quebec is not based on supply and demand

    A new report by the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ) shows that although the number of residential units built in Quebec in the last decade surpassed the growth of households, many of those units remain empty and are still out of reach for many households due to rapidly rising rents. Average rents in Montreal increased by 27 per cent between 2020 and 2024, while the rate of evictions across the province rose by 135 per cent in 2023 alone. The report’s findings rebut the government’s framing of the housing crisis as a supply-and-demand issue, with an increase in supply as the main solution. Instead, RCLALQ recommends building more social housing, which the province is in dire need of after its social housing program was cancelled in the 1990s, as well as strengthening rent control measures, implementing a province-wide rental registry, and increasing restrictions on evictions. Increasing supply cannot be the only solution to the housing crisis and various measures need to be implemented to address the housing affordability and adequacy crisis. 

  • Quebec renters are more likely to face a disputed eviction in areas with more visible minorities and immigrants

    According to a Globe and Mail analysis that compared recent data from Quebec’s housing tribunal with the 2021 Census, the highest rates of evictions that were appealed to the tribunal were from areas in the province where a higher number of visible minorities and immigrants live. Eviction notices are not recorded if renters do not oppose them, which leaves contested evictions as the only way to measure where evictions are taking place. Local community organizers and housing advocates say that these findings align with the trend of historically affordable and diverse neighborhoods facing rising housing costs and subsequent rent increases, leading to greater risk of economic eviction for households unable to pay. Furthermore, in some of these neighborhoods, immigrant renters are seeking support, as they face new buyers trying to evict them to increase their profits. This research highlights the power imbalance between landlords and renters in minority and immigrant communities, and the barriers they face in accessing adequate and affordable housing and exercising their rights. 

  • Auditor General report examines state of Montreal’s low-income housing

    Montreal Auditor General Andrée Cossette recently released a report, which tackles issues related to low-income housing, among others. The report identifies several issues in low-income housing, including wait times of up to six years and the deterioration of units, with 61 per cent of units being in poor or very poor condition. As of the end of 2022, 23,000 applicants, many of whom have children, were waiting for low-income housing. The report identified that poor management has prevented the appropriate allocation of units to households in need, including failure to respect the priority list. The Auditor General called for more inspections of low-income units to ensure that they meet the necessary conditions.
     

WESTERN CANADA

MANITOBA

  • Manitoba proposes new limits for above guideline rent increases

    The Manitoba government recently introduced a bill that would make it harder for landlords to raise rents above the annual provincial guidelines, by setting conditions for which they can seek this type of increase. Applications for above guideline rent increases would be restricted to situations in which landlords invest in capital projects, such as plumbing and heating, or face a significant rise in taxes, utilities, and/or security costs. This is a significant victory for renters and housing advocates, as currently, landlords can apply to the residential tenancies director for an above guideline increase for any reason. However, no changes have been made to the way increases are calculated by the residential tenancies board, and some units remain exempt from the provincial rent increase guideline. The bill is expected to pass when the legislature sits again in the fall.  

Alberta

  • Advocates in Calgary warn that landlords are using government-funded climate retrofits as a way to hike rents

    Advocates in Calgary are warning that financialized landlords are leveraging government funding to retrofit their aging buildings to increase rents. This trend risks further jeopardizing the stability of lower income renters, especially in the absence of rent regulations in the province. While upgrading aging buildings is essential in the face of climate change, there is a danger that financialized landlords are using green investments to maximize profits. The current business model of most financialized landlords is based on acquiring older buildings and upgrading them to increase rents and attract more affluent renters, displacing current low-income renters in the process. Public funding should not be used to contribute to this model of increasing profits and displacing renters. In the absence of robust accountability mechanisms, Calgary’s tight rental market could present the ideal environment in which financialized landlords can increase the value of older buildings, and their profits, under the guise of addressing climate change. 

British Columbia

  • British Colombia introduces new regulations to support community planning

    The British Columbia government recently introduced new regulations to standardize and improve community planning in the province, in an effort to make it easier and faster to build more homes. Under the regulations, municipalities will be required to complete housing needs reports every five years, using a new provincial standardized method for calculating housing needs, with guidance from the province. Municipalities must then update their zoning by-laws and official community plans to accommodate current and anticipated needs over five years. This regulation is part of the province’s Homes for People Plan, which aims to give local governments the support and authority they need to increase housing in their municipalities, as they struggle to meet targets set by the province.
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