The Canadian Press – March 22, 2016
via/ http://globalnews.ca/
OTTAWA – Almost 119,000 families who are living on the street or on the verge of becoming homeless could find themselves with new or refurbished affordable housing units promised in the federal budget released Tuesday.
The document also proposed changes to employment insurance, to make it easier to qualify and to extend benefits in areas hard-hit by job losses.
The Liberals first budget sets aside $2.3 billion over two years for affordable housing, including doubling spending on a federal affordable housing program and adding $111.8 million to help 61 cities tackle the ongoing challenge of homelessness.
Included in that amount will be about $200 million over two years to repair and build affordable housing units for more than 5,000 low-income seniors and $739 million over the same time for housing for First Nations, Inuit and northern communities.
Many of the 570,000 units of social housing the government funds nationwide aren’t energy or water efficient, or are in dire need of repair.
Anti-poverty advocates and housing providers had asked the government for much more – $3.2 billion to renovate old units and build 100,000 new units nationwide – to aid the estimated 200,000 people who experience homelessness annually and reverse years of declines in federal spending on affordable housing.
To read the full article and watch the related video click here
Click here and LIKE us on Facebook to be entered in our monthly prize drawing
Refer a Friend and be Entered in our monthly prize Drawing