Prime minister announces $175 million for Edmonton to help build affordable housing

Prime minister announces $175 million for Edmonton to help build affordable housing

EDMONTON — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced $175 million in funding to fast-track more than 5,200 new housing units in Edmonton over the next three years.

The money will flow through the federal Housing Accelerator program and be used to eliminate barriers to getting the homes built.

Trudeau says the funds will create more housing options in the city, including more rentals, affordable apartments, and housing near university and college campuses.

“One of the challenges we’re facing right now with this housing crisis is over the past decades the federal governments of different stripes stepped back from the business of ensuring that housing was properly built right across the country in affordable ways, meeting the supply needs, meeting the growth of the country,” Trudeau said at a news conference in the Alberta capital on Wednesday.

Trudeau donned a white hard hat and yellow reflective vest to tour an affordable housing project before the news conference with the Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and Edmonton member of Parliament and cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault.

The city passed a motion last month declaring a homelessness and housing emergency.

Sohi said Monday action had to be taken because of a jump in homelessness in the city and people were dying.

“This city council has been committed to ensuring that everyone living in this city has a decent place to call home,” Sohi said.

“Our city has been leading the charge in removing barriers to housing by overhauling the zoning regulations, making it easier for people to build.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press