Poilievre plans to use money set aside in the Liberal’s Housing Accelerator Fund which he says has been ineffective.
Housing
Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce Form Task Force on Homelessness
News release from the Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce
The Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce (the Chamber) has formed a Task Force to better understand the homelessness situation in Red Deer and identify areas where the business community can help address the issue and affect change.
Chaired by local community leader and business owner Lyn Radford, the Task Force consists of business owners and leaders in the Red Deer business sector.
“We all have a role to play in a vibrant and thriving Red Deer,” said Radford. “The Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce recognizes that effectively addressing homelessness requires a collaborative approach involving the government, social sector organizations, businesses, and residents working together.”
“As Red Deerians, the Task Force members understand that addressing homelessness will contribute to the overall well-being and livability of the community that we are proud to call home,” add Scott Robinson, Chief Executive of the Chamber. “And as members of the business community, they have a vested interest in understanding the homelessness situation to help enhance the economic viability of our community.”
The Chamber announced its intention to launch a Task Force on Homelessness in March 2023. Currently, the Task Force is completing an environmental scan to understand the scope of the homelessness situation before engaging in consultations with the broader Red Deer community through a series of community consultations. Community consultations are anticipated to launch in the fall, with an interim report of findings available in early 2024. A final report will be made public in the spring of 2024.
Once scheduled, information on the community consultations will be shared publicly on reddeerchamber.com.
Helping builders by putting an end to housing delays
Alberta’s new Stop Housing Delays online portal will allow developers, municipalities and other housing partners to report red tape and unnecessary home-building delays.
Alberta’s government is focused on ensuring Albertans have access to the housing they need, and that means working to streamline processes, cut red tape and reduce delays that are slowing housing construction down. As part of this work, government has launched a new online portal to help in these efforts.
The Stop Housing Delays online portal is now available for developers and municipal authorities to help identify areas that are preventing fast and efficient residential construction. This portal will help government identify and address barriers to building homes across the province.
“The Stop Housing Delays portal will allow Alberta’s government to hear directly from developers, municipalities and other partners on where delays are happening in the construction process. This will help identify and remove barriers, ultimately getting homes built faster and continuing Alberta’s record home-building pace.”
“Alberta’s government will continue to work with municipalities and find solutions to speed up the home-building process. The Stop Housing Delays portal will give us another tool to inform those discussions and identify areas where we can improve the pace of home building.”
Once developers, municipalities or industry partners have submitted their issue using the online form, government will collect and assess the information provided. Alberta’s government will be taking a collaborative, cross-ministry approach to ensure the appropriate departments are working together to find solutions where possible. Solutions may range from minor changes to policy reform.
Alberta’s government continues to support builders and encourage new residential housing construction by reducing red tape, incentivizing housing construction and supporting innovative strategies to build homes faster than ever.
“This webpage is an excellent opportunity to gather knowledge and further eliminate red tape. Government has been persistent in our approach of cutting red tape and removing roadblocks, and this will help to speed up residential construction. I look forward to hearing from developers and our other partners on how we can help get projects moving and Albertans in homes.”
Alberta continues to see strong housing starts and increases while other provinces across Canada are seeing a reduction in housing starts. The first half of 2024 saw 9,903 apartment unit starts in the province. This marks the highest amount in any half year in Alberta’s history, breaking the previous record of 9,750 set in 1977. Albertans will benefit from 33,577 new housing starts from January through September 2024, up 35 per cent from the same period last year. Alberta’s government remains focused on working with industry and non-profit partners to ensure that the province’s growing population has access to the housing it needs.
“This portal is a valuable tool for industry to highlight gaps, barriers and delays that may need to be prioritized and addressed by either local or provincial governments. Real solutions can only emerge through transparency, open communication and collaboration. This is an important step toward identifying the unique challenges each region and municipality faces in delivering attainable housing.”
Quick Facts
- Housing starts for January – September 2024 compared with January – September 2023
- Provincewide: 33,577 compared with 24,904 (up 35 per cent)
- Edmonton: 13,359 compared with 9,099 (up 47 per cent)
- Calgary: 17,414 compared with 14,141 (up 23 per cent)
- Lethbridge: 599 compared with 148 (up 305 per cent)
- Red Deer: 314 compared with 146 (up 115 per cent)
- Data shows Alberta had 10,699 purpose-built rentals, making up 32 per cent of all housing starts.
- Since 2019, Alberta’s government has invested almost $850 million to build more than 5,100 units and close to 900 shelter spaces. This includes projects we have committed to, that are in progress and that are complete.
- Together with its partners, Alberta’s government is supporting $9 billion in investments into affordable housing to support 25,000 additional low-income households by 2031.
Related information
From a Conservative Party of Canada news release
In a video released Monday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has announced a plan to lower the cost of a new home’s worth under $1 million dollars.
Poilievre says a conservative government will axe the sales tax on new homes sold for less than $1 million.
That would cut the cost of an $800,000 home by $40,000 or a $500,000 home by $25,000.
Accordingly Poilievre says this will lead to the building of an extra 30,000 new homes every year.
The news could get even better as the PM hopeful says he’ll push provinces to drop their sales tax as well.
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