The city of Hamilton saw at least eight non-profit housing projects start construction this year. When all the projects are complete in 2027, there will be 569 new non-profit units. At least half will be deeply affordable, the rest low market rents. The projects include 40 supportive housing units that Sacajawea started in September on Gage Avenue North, right.
Good news but… This is a good total, compared to Hamilton’s recent history. But it’s taken too long and it’s not nearly enough. Victoria Park’s 261-unit mixed-income project, for instance, took six years to get to a ground breaking, partly because a federal freeze on new funding. Quicker approvals, by the city of projects and of funding by the federal government, would allow much more to be built.
Second, we need so much more than this to be built. Dr. Carolyn Whitzman and a new report out this week (see the next item) estimate that we need 20 per cent of all of Canada’s housing to be non-profit and co-op housing, ideally within a decade. In Hamilton, that would involve more than tripling our 14,000 units of non-profit and co-op housing, a pace of 2,800 new units a year for a decade. The main onus for reaching that rests with the federal and provincial governments to speed up and greatly increase both capital and operating funding.