The Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) has substantial concerns with changes proposed to the Canada Community Building Fund by the Government of Canada.
In a news release issued February 28, SUMA said these changes would see additional criteria related to affordable housing development imposed on the municipal sector.
“Our cities, towns, villages, resort villages, and northern municipalities recognize the need for more affordable housing,” stated SUMA President, Randy Goulden. “But the changes being proposed will only increase the administrative burden for municipalities without meaningfully addressing homelessness or affordability. Those crises were created by decades of under-investment by the federal and provincial governments in affordable housing.”
The SUMA President said municipalities are responsible for 60 percent of the infrastructure in Canada, but collect less than 10 cents of every tax dollar.
This makes programs like the CCBF essential for municipalities so they can continue to ensure the health and safety of residents through clean drinking water, proper wastewater treatment, and solid waste management. It also enables municipalities to invest in quality of life for their residents through recreation and transit.
The SUMA President said there’s a dearth of affordable housing across Saskatchewan due to decades of under-investment by the federal and provincial governments.
She said it directly affects the extensive level of homelessness across the province, as people are forced out due to rising rent and insufficient funding for provincial social programs.
Without government incentives, affordable housing generally isn’t profitable, and developers build based on profitability and available labour. Consistent funding, such as through CCBF, for housing would ensure profitability and maintain a steady flow of people into the industry by guaranteeing work. It would also help ease the homelessness situation across the province.
“We need the federal government to remove the new requirements from the CCBF agreements and focus on ways to help relieve the pressure municipalities experience daily,” said Goulden.