Alberta gov't fell short of its affordable housing goal last year: annual report

The provincial government completed fewer new or refurbished affordable housing units last year than the previous three years, according to figures in the Seniors, Community and Social Services Ministry's annual report.

Provincial funding contributed to the creation of 388 new units in fiscal 2024, while another 410 households received rent supplements — payments that help people pay rent in market-housing units, the annual report says.

But the combined number of 798 units and subsidies fell short of the ministry's target of 1,500 for the year, the report says

"The provincial government has been failing at creating more affordable housing, particularly for low-income people," said Carolyn Whitzman, a senior housing researcher at the University of Toronto's School of Cities. 

Last year, the Alberta government created 641 affordable housing units — through new builds and refurbishments — and allocated 1,661 rent supplements.

In the 2021 Stronger Foundations report, the province's 10-year strategy for affordable housing, the government set a goal to expand the capacity of its affordable housing system, so it could support 25,000 more households by 2032.

That figure combines new builds, renovations to existing units and rent subsidies.

During a media availability Friday, Assisted Living and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon told reporters that the provincial government is on track to reach its goal. He said providing rent supplements for existing market housing is part of the plan. 

"Rent supplement units are new units," Nixon said.

"Taking a unit on, that would be in the open market, and creating a rent supplement for that unit creates an affordable unit that would not have been affordable before this."

The annual report said an additional 1,626 units were under construction as of March 31.

On Friday, Nixon and Eleanor Olszewski, the federal minister of emergency management and community resilience and MP for Edmonton Centre, announced that the federal and provincial governments will spend $203 million combined to build 2,300 affordable housing units across Alberta.

The provincial government has spent $386 million through its Affordable Housing Partnership Program since 2022, and plans to spend another $655 million over the next three years.

Provinces could do better

Whitzman, the U of T researcher, sees problems with Alberta's use of subsidies to help make market housing more affordable. The payments, she said, don't always make up the difference between the rent charged for a unit and what a lower-income tenant can afford.

Rent subsidies also keep tenants in the private market, which may not provide the same kind of rent stability as a unit in a community-housing or non-market unit., she said.

Nixon rejects calls for Alberta to implement rent control while the province builds out its affordable housing supply. He argues rent caps provide a disincentive to developers who build new apartment and homes. 

Whitzman said that isn't the case in jurisdictions like Quebec, which has rent control.

No provincial government is doing a great job building affordable housing, Whitzman said, but Alberta is failing on several fronts.

She said Alberta has a growing rate of evictions, and that the government needs to improve benefits so people can afford to live.

The Alberta government can also change the building code and provide guidance to municipalities on how they can change zoning bylaws to allow more apartment buildings, she said.

Calgary, and particularly Edmonton, are doing well with zoning changes, but only because they did so on their own, Whitzman added. 

Opposition NDP housing critic Janis Irwin, the MLA for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, said she isn't surprised the government fell short of its affordable-housing goals. 

Nixon often cites increases in market housing starts as proof Alberta is building more housing, which in turn will make more apartments available as tenants move into new homes.  

But Irwin argues the UCP government needs to spend more on new non-market housing, and reiterated a call to institute a rent cap.

She said Nixon could spend more on new affordable housing builds, noting the government ended the 2024-25 year with a $8.2 billion surplus. 

"They could be using that money to invest in new affordable housing. They could be upgrading the affordable housing that we know is in disrepair," Irwin said. 

"We know that investments in housing will will pay dividends down the road. These should be viewed as investments and not expenses."