Ontario to Invest in Affordable Housing, Child Benefits

Today, the government of Ontario announced its intention to invest in affordable housing and increase child benefits to support low-income Ontarians.

The provincial government has promised to match federal funds that were allocated in the 2009 federal budget for affordable housing. These funds, which total $1.2 billion, will be invested over the next two years to renovate 50,000 social housing units and build 4,500 new affordable housing units.

The joint federal-provincial investment will allocate $352 million to repair existing social housing units and make them more energy efficient, and $185 million will be invested in creating new affordable housing for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities.

This investment in affordable housing will also stimulate the economy by creating an estimated 23,000 jobs, particularly in the construction and renovation sectors.

Beginning this July, the Ontario Child Benefit will also be increased from $600 to a maximum of $1,100 per child annually. This benefit will help support 1.3 million children over the next three years.

This funding announcement was commended by a number of anti-poverty and affordable housing organizations in the province – including the 25 in 5 Network, Campaign 2000 and the Wellesley Institute – as a positive step towards poverty reduction. However, despite these new investments, much still remains to be done in the fight against poverty.

The announcement was made in anticipation of Ontario’s provincial budget, which is due to be released this Thursday, March 26. The budget will outline the government’s financial commitments to the province’s recently created poverty reduction strategy.

CPJ welcomes this funding increase and looks forward to seeing the Ontario government make solid commitments in the 2009 budget to investing in poverty reduction.