New housing minister weighs in on affordability crisis
New federal housing minister Sean Fraser has said the government should never have gotten out of the housing business in comments delivered to media in Vancouver.
The Central Nova MP, who took over the housing file during a recent cabinet reshuffle, weighed in on some of the root causes of Canada’s current housing affordability crisis.
“For the better part of the last half century, federal governments of different partisan stripes – by the way, liberal and conservatives – have stepped away from forwarding affordable housing in this country,” he said.
While previous federal governments had been preoccupied with providing subsidized housing to those individuals with low income, Fraser said a fundamental shift had taken place as even working professionals are struggling to afford a home for themselves and their families.
The housing minister said that people should not have to pay more than 30% of their income for their homes, referencing a newspaper headline he had seen which said that the average price for a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver is now $3,000 per month.
"If you work in Canada, you should be able to afford a place to call home.” said Fraser.
The housing minister said building transit and housing near communities could improve affordability options for Canadians, noting the importance of housing being built across the income spectrum.
The government is looking for possible ways to speed up home construction, he added, through subsidies and other incentives as he believed that more rentals to the market will cause prices to go down.
However, he indicated that since home prices are still influenced by other forces in the market, a difficult road lies ahead.
"Right now we want to bring down the cost of living. That includes bringing down the cost of rent for people by building more purpose-built rental construction right across the country." said Fraser.
"If you are a person who is willing to work in this country, it's unacceptable that you can't afford a place to live in the community you call home."
