Social Housing in Ottawa Being Renovated

Posted by: Toronto Real Estate Admin / Category: News Bulletin

OTTAWA, August 6, 2009 — The Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario today announced that an Ottawa Community Housing building on Caldwell Avenue in Ottawa will receive support for repairs and renovations over the next two years.

The work will include balcony repairs, window replacements, lighting upgrades and building retrofits.

The Ottawa Community Housing building on Caldwell Avenue will receive $5.4 million, part of a notional allocation of more than $46.8 million to the City of Ottawa to repair and retrofit existing local social housing units.

The funding was made available as a result of a $1.2 billion joint investment under the amended Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement, which includes funding through Canada’s Economic Action Plan and by the Government of Ontario. The federal and provincial governments are contributing equally to this overall investment.

The Honourable Gordon O’Connor, Minister of State and Chief Government Whip and Member of Parliament for Carleton – Mississippi Mills, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Honourable Jim Watson, Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, made the announcement today.

“Renovation and retrofit projects, like this one, will improve the quality of life for residents by keeping their homes safe and affordable,” said Minister O’Connor. “It is also a good way to get the local economy moving because it puts construction workers and trades people to work quickly and most of the materials and supplies are made in Canada.”

“These repairs are another step towards improving social housing in Ottawa,” said Minister Watson. “This new funding will help ensure that people living in social housing have a safe and reliable place to live. Ontarians deserve nothing less.”

Ontario is moving quickly to invest a total of $704 million to repair eligible social housing across the province. In an effort to get shovels in the ground quickly, projects must be committed by the end of the fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

The funding will help improve the quality of life for residents living in social housing communities. Funding will be used to renovate and make energy-saving upgrades to existing social housing as well as to undertake accessibility modifications for the benefit of seniors and persons with disabilities. It will also create jobs and strengthen local economies. To find out more about affordable housing in Ontario, visit www.mah.gov.on.ca.

Last fall, the Government of Canada committed more than $1.9 billion over the next five years to improve and build new affordable housing and to help the homeless. Canada’s Economic Action Plan builds on this with an additional one-time investment of more than $2 billion over two years in new and existing social housing and lending of up to another $2 billion to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure.

Last month, the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario announced a series of investments of more than $70 million to fund 36 construction-ready projects throughout the province under the amended Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement.

To find out more about how the Government of Canada and CMHC are working to build stronger homes and communities for all Canadians, call CMHC at 1-800-668-2642 or visit www.cmhc.ca/housingactionplan. For more information on Canada’s Economic Action Plan, call 1-800-O Canada or visit www.actionplan.gc.ca.

Media Inquiries:

For more information visit www.ontario.ca/housing

See related speech.

Article source: http://www.cmhc.ca/en/corp/nero/nere/2009/2009-08-06-1500.cfm

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