Cities call for infrastructure funding to build homes, fiscal update sparks dismay
OTTAWA –
The federal government’s fiscal update has sparked disappointment among many who were hoping for big action on housing, including municipal leaders.
Canadian municipalities are particularly discouraged that the Liberals didn’t include a new infrastructure funding model in the document released on Tuesday, despite the prime minister promising one would come in the fall.
That’s the number of homes the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. says Canada needs to build to restore affordability.
The federation held a news conference Thursday in Ottawa to call on the federal government to convene provincial, territorial and municipal leaders to discuss a new funding framework that takes economic and population growth into better account.
Municipalities say they need more money to build everything from roads to public transport to drinking water systems to support the construction of more homes, and they are turning to higher levels of government to pony up the funds.
“We don’t expect that the federal government and the provinces will turn around on Saturday morning and write a check for $600 billion to fix this gap,” said Mike Savage, mayor of Halifax and chair of the Big City Mayors’ Caucus.
“What we do expect is that they accept that it’s a real threat to the future of Canada, and particularly to its growth, and that they look at the things they can do.”
