Ontario’s ailing social housing stock will benefit from a $4.2 billion investment based largely on a pledge to protect and preserve at least 130,000 units across the province. “It is important to us that the agreement supported stability and predictability for the hundreds of thousands of Ontario families who live in social housing,” said provincial Housing Minister Peter Milczyn, speaking Monday at the Bayside neighbourhood, at Queens Quay E., near Lower Sherbourne St.Of the 130,000 units, about 45,000 are in Toronto, he said and are a mix of co-operative, non-profit and Toronto Community Housing units. “After many years of advocating for the federal government to return to the housing game we now have a national government that has listened,” said Milczyn. The new deal between Ontario and Ottawa is part of a broad, 10-year, $40-billion National Housing Strategy, announced in November. The strategy builds on Ottawa’s $11.2 billion budget commitment in March 2017 and aims to lift 530,000 families out of unaffordable and substandard housing and reduce chronic homelessness by 50 per cent.

Source: thestar April 30, 2018 22:52 UTC