Calgary announced more than $13 million in funding for three new city-led initiatives aimed at building more affordable housing in the city, as well as helping people get situated in existing rentals.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek announced the three programs on Thursday.
The first is a $6-million capital grant program with money flowing to urban Indigenous housing organizations and projects. Details on that will be made available next month, and applications will be open in June.
Gondek said the funding recognizes Indigenous people make up a disproportionally high number of people who are unhoused or in low-income living situations in the city.
She said the investment is imperative for a city seeking equity and inclusion.
The second program is $7.5 million in capital grants for non-profits looking to build housing on three new parcels of land, which the city will be making available to them.
The location of the land parcels will be made public at the end of this month. This is the third time the city has made surplus land available at below-market value exclusively for non-profit housing partners, however it’s the first time the city is making grants available to the partners building the homes. Up to $75,000 is being made available for each unit.
Additionally, Calgary is putting $200,000 towards a community-based program that will help people pay expenses such as damage deposits and first month’s rent when moving into housing.
The city has partnered with the Calgary Homeless Foundation and the United Way of Calgary and Area on this program. Those two organizations are matching the city’s contribution, bringing the value of the program to $600,000.
Council approved the funding for all three initiatives during the budget process in November, meaning the money is ready to roll out immediately, according to the mayor.
“This makes us, together with our community partners, nimble and responsive to the needs of our neighbours who require supports to access dignified and affordable housing,” she said.
The mayor noted that the rent funding program came together in a matter of days after talking with the two community partners.
Coun. Courtney Walcott said the speed at which this funding is being made available makes him feel optimistic.
“These are the types of decisions that make me excited about the future of this work because when we had the capacity to act now, we did,” he said. “That’s a big change in the way governments usually operate.”
Patricia Jones, president and CEO of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, said its data shows 38 per cent of people experiencing homelessness were on the street simply because they didn’t have enough income.
She said offering $600,000 to cover first month’s rent will help her organization and others move people off the streets and into housing.
“So it’s one tool in a very large toolkit, and it’s only by working together with our amazing partners at the City of Calgary and United Way and our nonprofit community that we’re able to deal with this,” she said.