OTTAWA – Canada’s cities want all the federal parties to promise to
pour billions more into the national government’s decade-long housing
strategy to make sure that seniors, urban Indigenous people and
low-income renters aren’t left behind by the tens of billions in already
pledged spending.

The call, led by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, put a price
tag on many of the federal actions advocates say are needed to make
housing more affordable across the country – an issue the parties have
spent months reviewing amid polling suggesting it remains top-of-mind
for urban voters.

But the cost could be steep: An estimated total of about $827 million a
year in new spending, for the remaining eight years of the strategy,
that would include helping seniors pay for refits so they can stay in
their homes longer, building more housing for urban Indigenous people,
and paying for units for homeless people with mental illnesses.