Federal-provincial-territorial (FPT) housing ministers' meeting:

The annual FPT housing ministers' meeting is expected to be held in Winnipeg sometime between mid-December and mid-January. An official in the office of Manitoba housing minister Tim Sale (one of the co-chairs of the meeting) says mid-January is the most likely date, while an official in the office of federal housing minister David Collenette (the other co-chair) says definitely before Christmas. At recent FPT housing meetings, the National Housing and Homelessness Network has had a visible presence (Fredericton, London and Quebec City). The NHHN is working on plans for Winnipeg. These will likely include informal lobbying of federal, provincial and territorial ministers and officials, a formal meeting with the two co-chairs and a rally or other visible political event. In addition, the NHHN is considering a plan to stage a national housing and homelessness forum on the two days before the ministers' meet. This would be expensive to organize (transportation and accommodation), but NHHN will make a decision in the next week or so. The plan would be to create a limited number of travel subsidies, then encourage groups to access local resources to allow more to attend. More on this to follow.

Federal Speech from the Throne:

Parliament resumes with a Speech from the Throne on September 30. These speeches are always very general, but they do set the policy agenda for the next session of Parliament. NHHN partners and others are lobbying hard to get a strong reference to housing and homelessness in the speech.

Federal budget:

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance has started its pre-budget consultations. The committee is expected to hit the road for hearings in several Canadian communities in the fall, but no dates have been set as yet. The federal budget is expected in February, 2003, but the budget could come earlier - and could derail the pre-budget hearing process. The goal of NHHN and other groups is for a strong new funding commitment in the next two federal budgets. The overall goal is an additional $2 billion annually for a fully-funded new national housing program with five key elements: new supply, rent supplements, supportive housing, housing rehab funding and homeless services and shelter. The NHHN has prepared a detailed brief for the pre-budget process, which has already been circulated to HHNO members. If you didn't get a copy, please contact Michael Shapcott.

New federal housing minister:

Transport minister David Collenette, the political minister responsible for the GTA, was appointed federal housing minister in August. About one week after his appointment, Minister Collenette made a strong speech in favour of new funding for social housing. Minister Collenette is expected to start a series of meetings with national groups, including the National Housing and Homelessness Network, in late September of 2002.

Renewed One Percent Solution campaign:

The Toronto Disaster Relief Committee, in conjunction with other NHHN partners, is working on a renewed One Percent Solution campaign, including supporting materials. Many national and provincial groups have adopted the One Percent Solution, which calls on the federal and Ontario governments to double their spending on housing.

Start of new Legislative session:

The Ontario Legislature returns on September 23 with a new legislative session. This is expected to be the last session of the Legislature before a provincial election expected in June of 2003. All three political parties are in election mode.

Federal-Ontario housing program:

Details regarding the federal-Ontario housing program, which was signed on May 30, 2002, are expected to be announced by the end of September. In response to considerable political pressure from housing advocacy groups and municipalities, the provincial government has postponed the announcement of program details several times to make significant changes. HHNO has distributed a backgrounder on the new program. For information, please contact Michael Shapcott. The program will provide $500 million over five years for new affordable housing. Half will come from the federal government. The province is supposed to match that amount, but is only providing $20 million in new provincial dollars. The bulk of the provincial share - about $180 million - is coming from municipalities. A big concern remains that the province will try to steer all or most of the funds into high-end private rental housing that won't be affordable for low, moderate and middle-income renter households.

"New" rent supplements:

In August, Ontario housing minister Chris Hodgson announced 1,000 "new" rent supplement units for low-income households. This is not a new announcement, as the rent supplement program - which is being funded entirely with federal surplus housing dollars - was first announced in 1999 and has been periodically re-announced since then. This time around, however, there are significant rule changes. The program is more of a U.S.-style voucher system, with the payment going to a low-income household. The previous rent supplement programs in Ontario involved contracts with landlords, which guaranteed protection from predatory practices (including rent increases) and ensured basic building standards.

Provincial budget process:

The provincial budget typically comes in March or later. There is sometimes a pre-budget consultation process. More on this to follow.

For more information:
Call Michael Shapcott at 416-366-1711, x224. Or e-mail: mshapcott@chfc.ca.

Update: August 20, 2002 - PM and Martin agree: housing a top priority

Update: August 19, 2002 - Housing announcement postponed

Media Advisory: August 19, 2002
Money? Rents? Units? - Ontario set to unveil new "affordable" housing plan

Average rents are NOT affordable rents:
Comparing average rents of tenant households in Toronto

Backgrounder from HHNO on new Ontario housing program July 31, 2002

Update: July 15, 2002 - Housing in Ontario

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