Opinion: The return of a National Housing Strategy Vancouver Courier September 15, 2016

I would like to see changes to zoning and building codes to allow small apartment buildings like this to be built again around Vancouver and the region.

I was fortunate to spend 10 years during the 'golden era' of CMHC. It was golden since we had a lot of gold to distribute for a variety of housing projects including public housing, non-profit rental and coops, residential rehabilitation, affordable home ownership, and more. Sadly, in 1993, the federal government's involvement in affordable housing diminished considerably.

However, Justin Trudeau seems to be following in the footsteps of his father and wanting to get back in the game. Yesterday both the federal and provincial government ministers spoke about a return of a National Housing Strategy and here's my column from today's Vancouver Courier.

Let’s talk housing.

Housing was certainly top of mind this past week as The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Federal Minister responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, was keynote speaker at a special Metro Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon.

The board invited the minister since deteriorating housing affordability is regarded by many as the greatest challenge impacting Metro Vancouver. In the 2016 Greater Vancouver Economic Scorecard, Vancouver earned a “D” grade in housing affordability, coming 15th out of the 17 jurisdictions measured.

In his remarks, the minister described the federal government's vision to keep housing in Canada’s urban centres affordable and accessible for everyone, and steps the federal government is taking to achieve this vision, including the development of a National Housing Strategy.

While the federal minister was speaking to the Board of Trade, Rich Coleman, the provincial minister responsible for housing, was addressing stakeholders from across the province who had been invited to a one-and-a-half-day workshop to help inform the B.C. government’s formal submission to the federal government on its National Housing Strategy.

Minister Coleman spoke about the province’s six “Housing Matters” priorities, namely, access to stable housing with integrated services for the homeless, priority for B.C.’s most vulnerable, addressing aboriginal housing need, improved access to affordable rental housing for low-income households, homeownership as an avenue to self-sufficiency; and a safe, stable and efficient housing regulatory system.

Earlier in the workshop, I participated on a panel with SFU’s Gordon Price, urban affairs commentator Frances Bula, and urban futures demographer Andrew Ramlo. I reviewed the federal government’s historic role in housing and shared many of the ideas I have written about in the Vancouver Courier over the past two years.

For seven decades, the federal government has played a major role in financing and building Vancouver’s affordable housing.

Much of the city’s rental housing was financed through a myriad of programs including the Limited Dividend Program, which provided 100 per cent loans to developers who agreed to limit their profits, ARP (Assisted Rental Program) and CRSP (Canada Rental Supply Program), which offered preferential financing, and the CCA (capital cost allowance) program, which allowed Canadians to write off a portion of their investments in rental housing against other income.

While these programs usually made rental housing projects feasible, my dear friend Morris Wosk, who built many apartments around the city, often reminded me that in the early years, it was the coins from the washers and dryers that made the difference between positive and negative cash flow.

In addition to rental housing programs, the federal government offered first time homeowners’ grants and programs such as AHOP, the Assisted Home Ownership Program, which provided preferential financing for Vancouver homes selling for $47,000 or less.

From 1947 to 1985, the federal and provincial governments developed public housing developments, including Little Mountain, Maclean Park, and the West End’s Sunset Towers. Today, most of these projects are ripe for regeneration.

While redevelopment of the Little Mountain project has been a complete fiasco, hopefully more successful strategies will be followed in coming years. Lessons can certainly be learned from Toronto’s Regent Park, once the most notorious public housing in the country, which has been phased into a most successful mixed-income community.

In the 1970’s the federal government introduced new programs to allow non-profit organizations to build rental and cooperative housing projects catering to lower income households. During this period, the redevelopment of the south shore of False Creek got underway. This project was highly controversial at first, with one senior city planner resigning, arguing it would be a terrible place for families to live. Over the past 40 years, the community has been highly acclaimed, but today it, too, is ready for renewal, offering numerous opportunities for additional affordable housing.

 

A National Housing Strategy will hopefully offer additional federal money. However, there will never be enough. Other innovative approaches will continue to be required, including changes in municipal regulations to allow smaller houses on small lots, basement suites in duplexes and rowhouses, stacked rowhouses and other compact housing forms.

It is also time to revise building codes to allow smaller rental apartment buildings like those built 50 years ago. With laundry rooms and coin operated washers and dryers.

michaelarthurgeller@gmail.com

@michaelgeller