[homeles_ot-l] MAH cuts! FW: Ontario housing policy being written by feds (Ontario budget 2009)

[Lynne Browne]

FYI…note that the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing took the
biggest cut of any provincial ministry a six per cent cut from the current
year and a big drop of $222 million, or almost 25%, from three years ago. 

 

Lynne Browne

Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness (ATEH)

147 Besserer St., Ottawa, ON K1N 6A7

613-241-7913, ext. 205, Cell 613-513-6647

HYPERLINK "http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca"www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca


   _____  

From: nhhn-can-owner at povnet.org [mailto:nhhn-can-owner at povnet.org] On Behalf
Of Michael Shapcott
Sent: March 26, 2009 6:09 PM
To: Michael Shapcott
Subject: [nhhn-can] WI backgrounder: Ontario housing policy being written by
feds (Ontario budget 2009)

 

Ontario housing policy is now being written by the federal government –
that’s the grim news in the 2009 provincial budget, released today. While
the Ontario government promised in its poverty reduction strategy that it
would launch a provincial housing consultation in the spring of 2009, the
provincial budget sets out a made-on-Parliament Hill housing plan for
Ontario.

 

The budget includes spending cuts to the Ontario Ministry of Municipal
Affairs and Housing that are the biggest cuts of any provincial ministry.
Page 97 of the Ontario budget reports that MAH spending will drop to $703.9
million in the coming fiscal year – a six per cent cut from the current year
and a big drop of $222 million, or almost 25%, from three years ago. Housing
spending will temporarily increase by $352.2 million next year, and an
estimated $265 million the following year, before dropping back. The
short-term increase over two years is to match federal housing investments –
which are explicitly tied to federal housing priorities – for Ontario. 

 

Government officials in today’s provincial budget lock-up said that details
on the one-time-only housing investments are still being negotiated with the
federal government. There are no details on commitment timelines or
allocations, although it is expected that the new dollars – when they are
finally available – will be administered by municipal service managers
across the province.

 

The federal government set three housing priorities: more than half the new
dollars will go to social housing repairs (even though only about 5% of
Ontarians live in social housing, and most low-income Ontarians live in
private rental housing), and almost everything else is to go to seniors and
people with disabilities. There are few dollars for non-senior households,
even though the latest numbers from Statistics Canada show that more than
one-in-four Ontario households are precariously housed. 

 

“People living in social housing, seniors and people with disabilities all
deserve healthy and affordable homes,” says Michael Shapcott, senior policy
fellow at the Wellesley Institute. “But so do all the other Ontarians who
are struggling to keep a roof over their heads, including the 125,000
households on affordable housing waiting lists and the tens of thousands of
people who are homeless – not to mention the growing number of Ontarians
losing their jobs and at risk of losing their homes. The provincial budget
shrinks funding for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and offers
virtually nothing for millions of Ontarians who are insecurely housed.
Ontario is relying on the federal government to set housing priorities and
housing policy, and that has left far too many low, moderate and even
middle-income households out in the cold.”

 

In the lead-up to the provincial budget, the Wellesley Institute called on
the provincial government to make two key housing investments: First, match
the federal housing dollars, and, second, add new provincial dollars to meet
the housing needs that have been ignored and neglected by the federal
government. The Alberta government recently announced a bold $3.2 billion
plan to end homelessness in that province that, in equivalent terms, would
equal more than $12 billion for Ontario (which is significantly larger in
terms of population than Alberta). On a per capita basis, Alberta is
investing more than double the dollars in housing as Ontario.

 

As Ontario heads into the spring housing consultation, the provincial
government needs to demonstrate that its housing policy will be made at
Queen’s Park and not on Parliament Hill. To do that, Ontario needs to put
provincial housing dollars on the table, which will be geared to provincial
housing priorities.

 

-          Michael

 

 

***

 

Michael Shapcott | Director, Affordable Housing and Social Innovation |
Wellesley Institute 

45 Charles St E, Suite 101                    Tel: 416.972.1010 ext 231
Toronto, ON, Canada,  M4Y 1S2           Mobile: 416.605.8316  
E-mail:   michael at wellesleyinstitute.com

 

www.wellesleyinstitute.com

rigorous research. pragmatic policy solutions. social innovation. community
action.

 


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