Michael Shapcott <[log in to unmask]> on 02/19/2003 08:21:53 AM













Federal Budget 2003 - Housing and homelessness

There's more money in federal Budget 2003 for bandages to
help the homeless, but not enough funding to stop the
bleeding.

On an annual basis, here is the value of the Budget's
commitments:

- $64 million for new affordable housing;

- $128 million for the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance
Program (RRAP); and

- $135 million for the Supporting Community Partnerships
Initiative (SCPI).

Here, from the text of the technical document in The Budget
Plan 2003, are the three major housing and homelessness
commitments:

- "$320 million over the next five years to enhance existing
affordable housing agreements with the provinces and
territories, bringing the total federal investment to $1
billion by the end of 2007-08";

- "$256 million over the next two years to extend the
Government's housing renovation programs to help preserve
the existing stock of affordable housing";

- "$270 million over the next two years to continue to fight
homelessness".

Other sections of the budget note that the RRAP and SCPI
money will actually be extended for three years, not the two
mentioned in this section.

This funding, along with the $136 million that the feds have
committed to the original Affordable Housing Framework
Agreement, means that the federal government's annual new
spending on housing and homelessness is now up to $463
million annually - still far short of the $2 billion
required in the One Percent Solution.

Here are a few observations about the housing and
homelessness commitments in the federal budget:

- that $64 million in new affordable housing spending will
generate no more than 2,400 new units for the entire country
for an entire year. There are double that number of homeless
people in Toronto's shelter system every night, not to
mention the 60,000 households on the city's social housing
waiting list. And that's just one city in a big country. The
number of units is far short of the target of 20,000 to
30,000 new units in the One Percent Solution.

- not only is the $64 million too little, but it's being
channeled into the same murky pool as the Affordable Housing
Framework Agreement. While this deal, signed by the federal,
provincial and territorial governments, has funded thousands
of new units in Quebec, the record is bleak throughout much
of the rest of the country: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and
Labrador and Prince Edward Island still haven't signed
bilateral deals, not a single new unit has been built in
Ontario, British Columbia has used the federal dollars to
replace provincial spending, etc.

- in the Buget, the federal government is spending more than
twice as much money on bandages for the homeless (shelters,
transitional housing and services funded by SCPI) as it is
spending to stop the bleeding in the first place (new
affordable housing).

- the extension of SCPI and the slight increase in the
annual allocation for homeless shelters and services is
welcome news. The bandages being applied are critically
necessary as a growing number of Canadians are forced into
homelessness. The original SCPI program was due to expire at
the end of this month and there were worries that some
important programs would have to shut down. The feds need to
get the new SCPI money out the door ASAP. The funding is
only for two years, however. Homeless shelters and services
will be needed for a long time to come, especially since the
feds have fallen so far short in their commitment to new
housing.

- the extension of RRAP funding is also good news. With the
expansion of RRAP in 1999, this program has been used as
part of a patchwork of funding programs to get new units (in
renovated buildings). RRAP funds alone are seldom enough, so
project sponsors need to collect money from a number of
sources. But creative developers have been able to use RRAP
effectively. This funding is also for two years, which
raises a concern since the program should be permanently
supported with proper funding.

The federal Budget also includes an unspecified commitment
to continue the Surplus Federal Real Property for
Homelessness Initiative. This is likely worth several
million dollars annually. This program is used to turn over
surplus federal plan for homeless ventures. A small, but
good, commitment.

IN SUMMARY: Effective political pressure has produced some
positive momentum over the last couple of years at the
federal level (notably SCPI, the Affordable Housing
Framework Agreement and enhancements to RRAP). That momentum
has continued with this federal Budget, as the government
makes increases in these three important initiatives. But
the federal commitments fall far short of the One Percent
Solution - $2 billion annually for a fully-funded
comprehensive national housing program. Homeless people and
low-income tenants will continue to suffer a devastating
housing crisis and homelessness disaster. The funding and
programs must be increased to a scale that meets the real
needs of Canadians. And the money that is committed actually
has to go to build new social housing, not to replace
provincial dollars or to fund expensive private sector
units.

- Michael Shapcott


--
* * * * * * *

Michael Shapcott, Research Co-ordinator
One Percent Solution research, education and action project
Toronto Disaster Relief Committee

and, Co-ordinator
Community / University Research Partnerships Unit
Centre for Urban and Community Studies
University of Toronto
Room 426A - 455 Spadina Avenue
Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 2G8
Telephone - 416-978-1260
Facsimile - 416-978-7162
E-mail - [log in to unmask]

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