Last year, the city created an affordable housing investment plan and a Housing Secretariat to implement it. A first step was setting up a process for pre-approving possible projects, so the city is ready when federal or provincial funding is available. Twenty-seven proposals were submitted to build 1,620 affordable units. The city has committed to build 900 units of affordable rental housing a year and has set aside its share of co-investment money to make that happen. One of the Secretariat’s jobs is to coordinate the approvals process for these projects so it takes much less time than it has, which both saves non-profit builders money but also lets them build more. Nine hundred units is almost three times the city’s past target and about four times a typical year for Hamilton, so it will be great if the city can make it happen. To do so, it still needs federal and provincial funding, so sign one of the letters mentioned in this week’s affordable housing announcements and send it off to the federal housing minister. Show us the money!
To view the sample letters, please click the links below: