The federal and provincial governments have announced $801 million over the next five years for new and affordable housing in Ontario. But not a dime of the money announced Monday can be used to cover the massive backlog of repairs at Toronto Community Housing, Municipal Affairs Minister Ted McMeekin acknowledged.

Good affordable housing, like that in the redeveloped Regent Park, is extremely scarce. On Monday, the federal and provincial governments announced renewed support for building more under a joint agreement. ( MARTA IWANEK / TORONTO STAR )

The funding for all of Ontario — set aside in the Investment in Affordable Housing agreement — is evenly split between Ottawa and Queen’s Park, but the estimated $751 million in immediate capital repairs needed at Toronto Community Housing Corporation’s 58,500 housing units are not eligible. “The funding announced today cannot be used for TCHC buildings, as part of the arrangement with the federal government says that projects that have an agreement with CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.) relating to finance, operation or occupancy are not eligible for funding. This includes TCHC,” a McMeekin spokesperson said an email statement to the Star. That followed an earlier statement from the minister that money from the five-year federal-provincial fund could be used on the capital repair backlog.

Article Continued Below

“We have (had) a crisis on our hands for decades now and we are not seeing anything change,” Toronto NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo (Parkdale-High Park) said after the funding was announced. City councillor Gord Perks (Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park) said the lack of financial aid for the TCHC is further evidence that neither the federal nor provincial government understand the state of public housing in Canada’s large cities. “They certainly don’t understand the consequences of downloading their responsibility for housing onto Toronto and other cities,” said Perks, referring to decisions by the former Mike Harris Progressive Conservative government in Ontario the former Paul Martin Liberal government in Ottawa. “I won’t say the money is useless but it certainly doesn’t solve any of the real problems Toronto has.” Meanwhile, Toronto Community Housing has asked Ottawa for about $100 million annually between 2015 and 2023 for a total of $864 million to help prevent the 58,500 housing units from “reaching a critical state of disrepair” or one-third of the projected $2.6 billion in repairs over the next 10 years.

“”What we (the city) have said is that we will pay one-third . . . and that we need the feds and the province to come and help us. Both the federal and provincial governments have not addressed this issue,” said city councillor Ana Bailao. Nonetheless, she welcomed Monday’s announcement because she “we need this kind of money to invest into the affordable housing stock.”

Article Continued Below

McMeekin said funding, provided for in both the federal provincial budgets, for the most part will be used to build new affordable housing units. “This program is an important component of Ontario’s overall strategy for affordable housing and poverty reduction,” he told the news conference, where the new bilateral agreement was signed committing the funding over five years — the second such agreement since 2011. “We got new money and lots of challenges, challenges that will undoubtedly exceed the resources that are currently available,” the minister said. McMeekin said it remains to be seen how much money will be earmarked for Toronto’s affordable housing needs. McMeekin said more than 10,000 units have been built so far under this joint funding. A 2013 report concluded that “staggering and worsening” shortage of affordable housing threatens the health and well-being of low- and moderate-income Ontarians and undermines the province’s economic competitiveness. ‎”The lack of a sufficient supply of affordable housing shuts the door on opportunity for too many Ontarians,” said the report by the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada, Ontario Region. McMeekin acknowledged that ensuring the availability of social and affordable housing in Ontario is “indeed a challenge and it is a growing challenge.” “I’ve always believed that addressing poverty is a matter of public interest and not just charity,” he told the new conference. Conservative MP Candice Bergen, minister of state for social development, noted that the Investment in Affordable Housing agreement has helped 17,800 individuals and families to find proper affordable housing. “Affordable housing and housing is more than just a roof over someone’s head. It’s giving them the opportunity . . . to get a better job and be able to contribute to the economy in even a greater way. This isn’t just about being socially responsible. This makes good financial sense,” she said.