Looking back and looking forward at the need for affordable housing in Ontario
Housing does not just reflect inequality—it magnifies it. Housing is far and away the largest expense of moderate and low income households. One conclusion resonates over the 20 years covered in this retrospective edition of Where’s Home?. Housing affordability for low income Ontarians has deteriorated. There are rising numbers of people with low-incomes facing a rising gap between income and rents.
Adding to these challenges is a looming issue with serious implications for housing affordability in Ontario. Many non-profit, co-operative and government housing projects built in the 1960s to 1980s through federal-provincial programs will reach the end of their operating agreements over the next few years. Unless renewed financing measures are put in place, rent-geared-to-income
units in these buildings, home to tens of thousands of low-income Ontarians, are in danger of being lost.
Housing is not only a social justice or anti-poverty issue. The lack of a sufficient supply of affordable housing shuts the door on opportunity for too many Ontarians. This undermines our collective prosperity. Investing in affordable housing provides economic stimulus and creates jobs. It improves heath and education outcomes. It lessens demand on resource-intensive areas of public expenditure, such as emergency services. And the lack of affordable housing for key workers in many sectors
undermines Ontario’s economic competitiveness.
See the full report at: http://ow.ly/m94rt