Alberta providing $75 million to housing providers: Nixon

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To help low-income housing providers build more homes and battle rising costs, the Alberta government will provide $75 million to four-dozen agencies in 2024-25, a provincial cabinet minister announced Tuesday.

Jason Nixon, minister of seniors, community and social services, said the funding marks a 40 per cent increase, or $21 million, from last year’s budget.

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Nixon told Postmedia the funding will subsidize 48 community housing providers and help house approximately 110,000 Albertans across 60,000 government-supported units.

“This specifically is to be able to make sure that housing providers that provide low-income housing are able to keep up with the inflationary market they find themselves in,” he said.

The funds will ensure Alberta’s housing operators “can continue to be able to manage the increased expenses we’re seeing – everything from increased utility costs, increased staffing costs, impacts from the carbon tax and other components like that,” Nixon added.

The new funding doesn’t include Alberta’s rent supplements that are already provided to these agencies, he noted.

“We know we need to be able to make sure we maintain what we’ve got and that they’re going to need to be able to pay their bills to do so.”

Of the $75 million, Calgary-based organizations will receive $20.4 million for the 2024 calendar year, according to Nixon. He said the majority of the funds will be distributed this year, with some carried over into 2025.

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‘Frankly, they’re not even in the equation’

Tuesday’s announcement comes after a flurry of pre-budget announcements from the federal government pertaining to housing, including a pledge from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week to “solve the housing crisis” by unlocking 3.87 million new homes by 2031.

That followed Trudeaus’ announcement of a new $1.5-billion Canada Rental Protection Fund, and a $500-million low-cost loans program to build homes using “innovative” techniques, such as modular construction.

Criticizing those commitments as federal intrusion into provincial jurisdiction, Premier Danielle Smith tabled Bill 18 – Protecting Provincial Priorities in the legislature last week. If passed, the legislation would require the federal government to receive the province’s permission before revising, extending or entering into funding agreements with Alberta’s municipalities, universities, or other “provincial entities.”

Nixon denied that Tuesday’s announcement is an example of sticking it to the federal government, noting the funding was already included in Alberta’s 2024 budget, which was tabled in late February.

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“This is something we intended to do, not because of the feds,” he said. “Frankly, they’re not even in the equation. This shows the Alberta government continues to invest significantly in housing and will continue to.”

However, Nixon added that since the introduction of Bill 18, federal housing minister Sean Fraser has resumed communication with the Alberta government.

“We’re excited to hopefully be able to get a deal with the federal government,” Nixon hinted. “Minister Fraser is back at the table and prepared to negotiate with the province when it comes to housing.”

The federal government’s 2024 budget will be tabled later today.

More to come…

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