Mayor Gondek announces almost $14M toward affordable housing projects

With financial support from local organizations, the City of Calgary is putting almost $14 million toward three new affordable housing projects, according to a Thursday announcement from Mayor Jyoti Gondek. 

One of those projects is a $600,000 fund to support Calgarians who cannot afford first and last month's rent. The project is funded equally by the city, the Calgary Homeless Foundation and the United Way of Calgary and Area.

"Housing is and remains an intersectional and wicked challenge, which requires partnerships and ideas from all orders of government, from non-profits and industry, to rise to the challenge," Gondek said at Thursday's news conference at city hall. 

The city is also selling three parcels of land to non-profits in order to build more affordable housing. That will be accompanied by up to $7.5 million in grants for developers to expedite the building process.

There will also be $6 million put aside toward a grant program specifically for urban Indigenous housing initiatives or organizations, according to Gondek. The mayor did not provide specifics about the program but said details would be announced next month, and applications will be accepted in June. 

The city is contributing $13.7 million toward the three new initiatives, while $400,000 will come from the Calgary Homeless Foundation and the United Way of Calgary and Area for the rental grant program. 

Gondek said the city's contributions toward these three initiatives were all approved during last November's budget deliberations. 

Land sold below market value for affordable housing developers

Tim Ward, the city's manager of housing solutions, said for the land sale program, the city will sell sites at below-market value to non-profit housing providers. 

Developers will receive up to $75,000 per unit to help with building costs.

"They can then leverage other orders of government or philanthropic contributions to get the build done," Ward said at Thursdays' news conference.

Gondek said the city's grants will help speed up development of these housing units.

"Feasibly, 100 units could be achieved with the amount we're putting in, and we're looking to our partners to come up  with some pretty good ideas on maximizing those pieces of land," the mayor said.

'The need is great'

Patricia Jones, CEO of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, said on her organization's triage list there are about 1,700 people waiting for housing.

"The need is great. The need also is great for people with higher complexities, so it's one tool in a very large tool kit," Jones said about the grant program for first and last month's rent.

Karen Young, president and CEO of United Way of Calgary and Area, said the rental grants will break down barriers so that citizens can afford not only housing, but also basic needs like food, medication and education.

"It's something that Calgarians need now more than ever," Young said. "So not only do we have the people facing homelessness, but we also have people on the tipping point of going into homelessness."

She added: "By providing these supports, wrap-around supports, in communities, we're able to make sure that people can stay at home or have the opportunities to get into a home to have a good life."