[homeles_ot-l] Profitable Cdn banks get $125 billion in mortgage help; jobless Canadians get $2b in affordable housing FW: WI backgrounder:

[Lynne Browne]

FYI . . . Lynne Browne

Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness (ATEH)

147 Besserer St., 2nd Floor, Ottawa, ON K1N 6A7

613-241-7913, ext. 205

www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca <http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca/> 

  _____  

From: hhno-on-owner at povnet.org [mailto:hhno-on-owner at povnet.org] On Behalf
Of Michael Shapcott
Sent: September 24, 2009 11:09 AM
To: Michael Shapcott
Subject: [hhno-on] WI backgrounder: Profitable Cdn banks get $125 billion in
mortgage help; jobless Canadians get $2b in affordable housing

 

Sixty-two and one-half years - that's how long the federal government will
have to spend on affordable housing, at the current rate, to equal the $125
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/crash-and-recovery/flaher
ty-set-to-extend-mortgage-backstop/article1299101/>  billion "emergency"
bailout package for banks and other mortgage lenders that federal finance
minister James Flaherty has just extended. 

 

The profits of Canadian banks have slipped slightly from the record-breaking
levels of 2005, 2006 and 2007, but the big six are still racking up billions
in <http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/who-bank-profits/>  profits. Banks
have tapped into about half the federal dollars that are on offer, and the
government money is basically a form of cheap funding designed to provide a
private backstop the private mortgage industry. 

 

While the federal government was quick last fall to put the unprecedented
bank bailout fund in place, federal investments in affordable housing for
low and moderate income Canadians (including the 400,000 jobs lost since the
recession started) have remained relatively stagnant. The "step-out" in
federal housing programs from the 1970s means that there is an automatic
annual decrease in federal investments in existing affordable housing. 

 

In September of 2008, the federal government extended funding for its
national homelessness initiative, and several related housing programs, with
funding frozen at previous levels for the next five years. In the January
economic stimulus budget, the federal government announced an additional $1
billion annually this year and next for affordable housing investments.

 

-          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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