Mayors say housing crisis is ‘dire,’ ‘desperate.’ Is Ottawa doing enough?
Global News
The mayors of Calgary and London, Ont., said they are welcoming federal funding programs dedicated to the building of new housing units, but added more needs to be done.
The mayors of two of Canada’s rapidly-growing cities say the housing crises their residents are facing is “desperate” and “dire,” and are encouraging all levels of government to work together to solve them as quickly as possible.
In a joint interview with Mercedes Stephenson that aired Sunday on The West Block, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek and London, Ont., Mayor Josh Morgan said they are welcoming federal funding programs dedicated to the building of new housing units, but added more needs to be done to turn things around.
“There’s no time for delay here,” Morgan said.
Both Gondek and Morgan give similar explanations for why their cities are facing a housing crunch: interprovincial migration driven by people leaving higher-priced jurisdictions; international immigration, including students from abroad and refugees fleeing the wars in Ukraine, Afghanistan and elsewhere; and growing local job markets that are attracting workers.
She said ever since the COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities people faced when it came to housing, “we’ve been taking in a lot more people, over 60 individuals a day if you break down the math, and we just can’t keep pace.
“So it’s really come to this critical point.”
A City of Calgary report this year noted the city’s population increased by three per cent since last spring, marking “the most significant annual increase in population in Calgary’s history.” London was the fastest-growing metropolitan area in Ontario in 2021 and remained in the top three last year, according to Statistics Canada data.
Morgan said the number of people experiencing homelessness in his city jumped from 300 at the start of the pandemic to around 2,000 today. In Calgary, Gondek said 245 families are currently in need of housing.
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