Infrastructure spending will help Canadians, co-ops say

Nicholas Gazzard, CNW — 15 Jan 2009

The Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada endorsed today's call by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for new infrastructure spending.

"Thousands of unemployed construction workers and the millions of
Canadians living in core housing need will welcome this call by municipalities
for new spending on affordable housing," said Nicholas Gazzard, Executive
Director. "Housing co-operatives across Canada support the FCM's
recommendations to stimulate the economy and get Canadians back to work. And
let's remember that construction projects generate more than twice their value
in overall economic activity." Gazzard pointed out that CHF Canada, and many
others, are also calling for new investments in housing.

Housing co-ops have urged the government to:

• Provide repayable federal loans for affordable housing repair and renovation through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's direct lending capacity,

• Create a $30 million loan fund for energy-saving building retrofits for federal co-ops, and

• Increase the funding for the Affordable Housing Initiative, a federal housing program, and allocate $250 million a year for 5 years targeted towards new affordable housing development.

The FCM's plan addresses the funding need for retrofits for public and non-profit rental housing, as well as new funding for Canada's Affordable ousing Initiative. The announcement comes a day in advance of the
federal-provincial economic summit in Ottawa.

"As the FCM points out, infrastructure spending can help the hard-hit construction, forestry and manufacturing sectors. An investment in affordable ousing could put construction workers back on the job and help all those
Canadians who are in desperate need of affordable housing. This is exactly
what Canada needs," Gazzard said.

Category: Government