National Housing and Homelessness Network

For immediate release May 14, 2002

Province-by-province update:
Nine of ten fail to make the grade

All ten provinces signed the Affordable Housing Framework Agreement in Quebec City in November of 2001. The federal government agreed to provide $680 million over five years for new affordable housing. The provinces agreed to match the federal funds, although the Quebec City deal gives them "wiggle room" to get credit for spending by third parties.

ONLY QUEBEC HAS FULLY MATCHED FEDERAL FUNDS:
All ten provinces agreed to provide matching funding, but only Quebec has met this commitment. B.C. said it would match federal funds, but provincial housing cuts means there will be little or no net gain of new units.

ONLY QUEBEC AND B.C. HAVE SIGNED AGREEMENTS:
All ten provinces agreed that there was an urgent need to act quickly. Six months later, only two have signed bilateral deals.

FIVE OF TEN PROVINCES HAVE CUT HOUSING SPENDING:
All ten provinces agreed that new affordable housing is an urgent priority, but Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia have all made cuts to provincial housing spending, according to Estimates tabled by the provinces along with their most recent provincial budgets. British Columbia and New Brunswick are maintaining current spending, while only Quebec and Newfoundland are increasing spending. Ontario hasn't released its 2002-2003 budget, but since the province downloaded the entire cost of housing programs to municipalities in 1998, the province spends practically nothing on new housing. And that is not expected to change.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
All the provinces said there was an urgent need to take action, but only two have signed bilateral deals six months after the Quebec City housing summit. All the provinces agreed to commit substantial funds to new affordable housing for low and moderate-income households, but every province - except for Quebec - has failed to commit substantial new funds. Five provinces are planning major housing spending cuts, which means that there will be a net loss of housing funding in those provinces, despite the commitments made in the Affordable Housing Framework Agreement in November of 2002.

National Housing and Homelessness Network key contacts:

Vancouver - Linda Mix, 604-255-3099, x226
Edmonton - Jim Gurnett, 780-423-9675
Toronto - Michael Shapcott, 416-605-8316
Montreal - Lucie Poirier, 514-522-1010
Halifax - Paul O'Hara, 902-420-0303

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This page was updated on May 15, 2002