What does affordable housing really mean? Kitchener MP calls on federal government to improve definition

Kitchener Centre MP Mike Morrice is calling on the federal government to adopt consistent criteria for what constitutes affordable housing and how programs are funded.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Morrice said the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) uses widely differing affordability criteria for people to qualify for affordable housing funding across its programs. As a result, he said housing dollars for affordable housing are not being used for that purpose.

"In my community since 2005, rents have doubled and these weak criteria aren't even used across all the funds for any given funding pool," Morrice said. "And so it's not rocket science. Affordable housing dollars should go to build truly affordable housing."

CBC News has reached out to the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities for comment.

In his private members bill, Morrice is echoing calls from housing experts like Carolyn Whitzman — an adjunct professor and senior housing researcher at School of Cities at the University of Toronto — for a consistent definition of affordability.

Whitzman says her research shows there is currently a need for three million rental homes that would cost less than $1,050 a month. 

"We need to start treating seriously how we're going to reach the targets that we have set in the National Housing Strategy. A consistent definition of affordability is the foundation for that work," Whitzman said at the news conference.

"The main question for housing policy is who needs what housing, where, and at what cost. Until we start asking that question, we're not going to be able to relieve the lives of millions of Canadians in unaffordable housing."

Eric Philip is CEO of Thresholds Homes and Supports, a Waterloo region non-profit offering a range of mental health and addiction services and supportive housing. At the media conference, he said Morrice's motion has the ability to ensure resources dedicated by the federal government to create new homes has the highest impact where it is most needed "in supporting those too often forgotten members of our community."

Meanwhile, Green Party of Canada Leader Elizabeth May says she hopes and expects that the motion will receive support from MPs across party lines. 

"It's essential that our Minister of Housing, Sean Fraser, look at the reality that there are six different definitions of what affordability means operating within his programs. That certainly doesn't make sense," May said during the news conference.

"It's a scandal that only three per cent of what's been built as affordable housing in this country is actually affordable," May added.

"It's time this country stepped up to face the housing crisis with consistent solutions that work for the people who need it the most."