Affordable Housing

A new study shows just how aggressively so-called “financialized” landlords push up rents. These landlords—asset managers, Real Estate Investment Trusts and pension plans—own about 20 per cent of purpose-built rentals in Canada and exist to maximize profit for shareholders. The study shows they charge rents significantly higher than all other types of landlords–$670 above neighbourhood … Read more

When city forces pushed homeless encampments off the rail trail recently, leaving the people living there with no place to go, some of those evicted set up tents at city hall. It’s not an encampment, it’s a protest against the indignity and violence of the city’s clearing of encampments. On Tuesday, bylaw and police officers, … Read more

It would take nearly two decades for family-sized homes in Hamilton-Burlington to become affordable to young adults with middle-class incomes if home prices don’t fall. And that’s based on assumptions that exclude a lot of people from even imagining homeownership.  In truth, prices do need to fall if young adults are ever to afford to … Read more

Prime Minister Mark Carney wants Canada to build 500,000 housing units a year, twice the current level. But he hasn’t committed to a goal for non-profit and co-op housing, the kind of housing needed by low- and middle-income households who struggle to pay for-profit rents. We need those numbers to double, too, and then to … Read more

Thank you, too, to those who signed letters to Prime Minister Carney, asking him to commit to, and fund, a half million new non-profit housing units by 2030 and another half million by 2035. And thanks to those who visited with the ACORN Hamilton and Sacajawea tables. We are heartened by your interest in our … Read more