Canada's real estate market is one of the red-hot property markets these days. As demand increases, supply declines. Consequently, house prices surge that many people could not afford to own a home.
To address the housing crisis, the government has been introducing measures and plans to slow down the market, including a push for a national housing strategy. As previously tackled here on Realty Today, this aims to reduce housing need in Canada and will involve consultations with various federal colleagues, provincial governments, indigenous communities and key stakeholders.
The government of Alberta has recently earmarked some $892 million for the construction and renovation of affordable housing units in the province. According to CBC News, this provincial budget will help alleviate the growing waiting lists of low-income families seeking to benefit from the subsidized affordable housing.
The number of people in the waiting list has already climbed to about 4,500 this month and it is expected to grow by around 300 people every month, said Greg Dewling, CEO of Capital Region Housing Corporation, per CBC News.
While it has not been revealed how the government plans to allocate the funding, which is way above last year's $500 million budget, Dewling said this investment is good news beyond expectations. Alberta's affordable housing budget also gives hope to low-income families to be able to do other things such as go back to school because part of their financial needs will be addressed.
Last month, the federal government bumped up affordable housing budget to $2.3 billion for over two years. The budget, which is planned to be used on refurbishing old social housing and constructing new affordable units, will help some 119,000 families keep a roof over their heads. The federal budget document released in March also include plans to tackle student debts and joblessness which are linked to social housing issues, Huffington Post reported.