October 14, 2009
Greater Victoria Social Housing Benefits from B.C. – Canada Partnership

VICTORIA – The Governments of Canada and British Columbia announced today a $7.3 million cost-shared Housing Renovation Partnership (HRP), a joint agreement to provide funding to renovate social housing in Greater Victoria in the greatest need of repair.

“Our government is committed to getting this important funding for affordable housing flowing quickly through our Economic Action Plan, ” says Saanich-Gulf Islands MP Gary Lunn “These projects will create jobs in a difficult economy, and will ensure that affordable housing in our community will continue to be able to provide quality shelter to those in need.”

“This is yet another example of our government making record investments in social housing,” says Oak Bay-Gordon Head MLA Ida Chong. “It is important to continue to support our low income British Columbians and help alleviate burdens on families especially during these tough economic times.”

Funding includes:

• Battin Fielding will receive $597,000 for energy retrofit and environmental sustainability.
• Hampton House will receive $696,500 for projects including environmental sustainability, roof repairs, generator set and building envelope renewal.
• Evergreen Terrace will receive $5,098,380 for building envelope renewal and environment sustainability.
• Sitkum Lodge will receive $1,008,000 to enhance the energy performance of the building and mechanical.

Of the total $176.76 million announced, the majority of the funding, $163.7 million will be directed toward repairs at 81 social housing developments. The remainder of the funding, $13.06 million is being allocated to renovations that are underway at provincially-owned Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels.

The funding was made available as a result of a $365-million joint investment under an amendment to the Canada-British Columbia Affordable Housing Agreement which includes funding through Canada’s Economic Action Plan and by the Government of British Columbia.

This new initiative is part of an overall $14-billion capital infrastructure program launched by the Province that will create up to 88,000 jobs over three years and help build vital public infrastructure in every region of the province.

Last fall, the Government of Canada committed more than $1.9 billion over the next five years to improve and build new affordable housing and help the homeless. Canada's Economic Action Plan builds on this with an additional one-time investment of more than $2 billion over two years in new and existing social housing and lending of up to another $2 billion to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure.

Through Housing Matters BC, the Province is addressing a range of housing needs, from homelessness to affordable rental housing and homeownership.  In 2009, the provincial housing budget is approximately $450 million, more than three times as much as in 2001.  To find out more about affordable housing in B.C., visit www.bchousing.org.

To find out more about how the Government of Canada and CMHC are working to build stronger homes and communities for all Canadians, call CMHC at 1-800-668-2642 or visit www.cmhc.ca/housingactionplan.  For more information on Canada’s Economic Action Plan, call 1-800-O Canada or visit www.actionplan.gc.ca.

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