Long gone are the days where offering a couple of choices for housing options meets the needs of residents and a city. People’s housing preferences and lifestyles continue to evolve whether you are new to the city or have been a long-term resident. Some people want an urban lifestyle, some will want a yard, some may want to be close to a park and on top of that, some may want and can include single detached home, live in a multi-unit or high density structure. In addition, housing diversity provides affordability (achievable) options.
Ensuring a selection of housing is also good for the city. When residents are in a dwelling that makes sense for them, it benefits themselves economically and socially and ultimately the city as well. As a result, the City of Regina created a Housing Strategy to provide guidance to the type of housing Regina should have overall (such as multi-unit, ownership vs rental), vacancy rates as well as the percent of houses that should be affordable to low and moderate income households. The Government of Canada has developed a National Housing Strategy (NHS). The study input on a continuum of housing needs from homelessness, social hosing, rental, to ownership and housing finance. It includes topics on sustainability, affordability, inclusivity and flexibility of housing options.
This $55+ billion, 10-year plan is intended to strengthen the middle class, cut chronic homelessness in half and fuel our economy. Most importantly, it will give more Canadians across the country a place to call home. Canada’s first-ever National Housing Strategy is intended help drive the success of Canada’s housing sector by giving more Canadians affordable homes.
Through the NHS, the federal government is bringing together the public, private and non-profit sectors to re-engage in affordable housing. Using a mix of funding, grants and loans, the strategy will create affordable, stable and livable communities. These communities will be located near amenities and transportation – and have the opportunities needed to succeed. Ultimately, communities where families thrive.
The goal is to ensure Canadians across the country have access to housing that meets their needs and is affordable. To achieve this, the strategy will first focus on the most vulnerable Canadians.
The NHS was started in 2018, it will be interesting to watch and see how (or if) it affects housing affordability in Regina. (source: https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/nhs/guidepage-strategy)