The Liberal government’s $55 billion national housing strategy may not produce the results it wants when it comes to increasing Canadians’ access to affordable housing, a new report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) says.
The analysis by the fiscal watchdog found that the strategy largely maintains current funding levels for ongoing programs, and actually reduces the level of targeted funding for lower-income households that form the “core housing need” in Canada.
The key metric of that core housing need is defined as if a household’s housing does not meet three standards for adequacy, affordability or suitability — which include whether a home is in need of major repairs and if there are other local housing options available that do not exceed 30 per cent of its total income.
