1. Housing and Homelessness Election Guide 2015
  2. 2. Party Platforms
  3. Liberal Party of Canada Platform

Liberal Party of Canada Platform

Liberal Party of Canada

“Safe, adequate, and affordable housing is essential to building strong families, strong communities, and a strong economy. We have a plan to make housing more affordable for those who need it most – seniors, persons with disabilities, lower-income families, and Canadians working hard to join the middle class”, Justin Trudeau, Liberal Leader, on release of the Liberal Housing platform.

The Liberals released their housing/homelessness election platform “Affordable Housing for Canadians”  on September 9th 2015. It builds upon their housing platform framework that was previously shared verbally with COH by Liberal Housing Critic MP Adam Vaughan. He says that while “lots of people will say that housing isn’t a federal responsibility, it is linked to a whole range of federal issues on so many files. The federal government needs to be pro-active and get out in front of this issue.” This  analysis is based on an interview with MP Vaughan, the published housing platform, public statements, a speech by party leader Justin Trudeau, news coverage and policy recommendations (listed below).

A Three Pronged Approach

According to MP Vaughan, the Liberal platform includes a three pronged – or three story – approach to solving the housing crisis:

First Story – Supportive Housing:

This will include a variety of types of supportive housing as it is known by different names in different areas but will include: supportive housing, clinical housing, second stage housing, transitional housing etc. This will include partnering with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) to develop area-specific “pilot” projects that could become permanent ways of addressing new and emerging issues. MP Vaughan says that FCM is well-placed to help the Liberals determine which communities but it will include a mix of large, urban cities and smaller or rural communities. MP Vaughan says “you’re not doing people any favours if you just put them into housing without supports.”

Second Story – Public Housing:

This will involve working directly with the provinces/territories to renew investment in public housing. This includes halting the reduction of funding caused by the expiration of operating agreements and increasing investments into both renovation of existing housing stock and building of new public housing. MP Vaughan explained the “money has to arrive so that it can be used flexibly” and explained the provinces/territories could decide how the money could be used including rehabilitation of existing housing stock, acquiring new housing stock and rehabilitating it or running it if no repairs were needed, as well as building new housing stock as needed. The goal is to be building 25,000 units of housing per year by the end of the decade. MP Vaughan says, “We’re not going to end homelessness with anything less than 25,000 units per year. Anything less than that and we’re just treading water.”

Third Story – Private Housing:

In this area the Liberals are intending to address sustainability and affordability. MP Vaughan says this includes both private rental and home ownership initiatives and is a way of stimulating the economy through federal investments. MP Vaughan says that this story also includes re-mandating the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to get it back in the business of regulating mortgages, as well as looking at the ways in which GST is charged, how mortgages are amortized etc. The Liberals will be using an across the board approach at a federal level that eliminates the need to renegotiate agreements with provinces/territories (because these are federal issues and mandates). MP Vaughan says this is also part of the overall urban infrastructure renewal plan of the Liberals. He explains that when a municipality comes seeking funding for a bridge they will need to show how public housing issues are being addressed in their community if they want to obtain funding for the bridge.

“Canada faces a stark shortage of affordable housing – making it harder for Canadian families to make ends meet. But we need more than just affordable housing. We need housing that is accessible and available to the people who need it. Liberals are ready to make the investments needed to meet that challenge.” – Mark Calderaro, Operations, Liberal Party of Canada

In a speech to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau explained that affordable housing will be one of the four key areas in the upcoming infrastructure platform.

“[Housing is] one of the most important challenges, because it really has to do with our sense of home and place. Today, Canadians from all across the economic spectrum are finding affordable housing in short supply. Our platform will include measures to encourage the construction of new, affordable, purpose-built rental housing. It will outline what we see as a renewed federal role in housing. It will include investments in innovative programs for supportive housing, as well as predictable and sustained new funding for affordable housing.”

There are also two policy recommendations that have been adopted by the Liberal Party of Canada related to housing/homelessness. While neither constitute an official platform, they do indicate the direction of the party. The full text for these is found in supporting documents or in the links below: