Good morning and thank you very much.
It's a pleasure to be here with you today. Thank you for the invitation, on behalf of Canada's housing co-operatives and related organizations that are members of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada.
I'd like to acknowledge that I'm grateful to be speaking with you today from the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe nation, which has lived here since time immemorial.
Today, I would like to share with you some perspectives on the housing crisis and what the 2022 federal budget can do to help address this acute crisis.
First, I'll start by providing a brief picture of co-op housing in Canada. There are more than 2,200 housing co-operatives, located in every province and territory in Canada. Housing co-ops are home to a quarter of a million Canadians. The vast majority of these housing co-operatives were developed in the 1970s and 1980s, supported by a robust and dedicated federal investment program and, in some jurisdictions, provincial investments as well. Federal investment in new co-op and non-profit housing ended in 1993, and then resumed at a much more modest scale in the early 2000s, but without a dedicated federal co-op housing program. Since 1993, we have really only seen a modest amount of new co-op homes developed, primarily sourced with some provincial funding.
Why does co-op housing matter? Most would agree that we need much more housing supply to address the housing crisis that we're in. We're no doubt in a very serious housing crisis in Canada, so we need more supply.
However, not all supply is created equal. In past decades, market rental housing became less expensive over time, becoming a relatively affordable option for many households. This is no longer the case, because of a process of financialization whereby housing is increasingly treated as an investment. In fact, we're losing more affordable housing in Canada due to financialization today than we're building. These effects are not shared equally, and they adversely affect indigenous peoples and members of racialized communities even more.
The supply response must intentionally build and acquire more housing that is safe from the forces of financialization, which means more co-op and non-profit housing in order to create a housing supply that is truly affordable, secure and inclusive. To be clear, co-op housing is more affordable than market rental housing, because the vast majority of housing co-ops operate on a not-for-profit basis, and their permanently affordable rents become more affordable over time.
Co-op housing also offers security of ownership. There's no outside landlord who might sell property or renovict tenants. Co-ops are inclusive by design, because almost all operate on a mixed-income model. Finally, co-ops are stronger communities. During the pandemic, we've witnessed countless stories of neighbours helping neighbours. The value of this in a world increasingly characterized by division cannot be overstated.
We're very excited to see in the federal budget an announcement of a co-op housing development program funded at $1.5 billion over five years, along with a commitment that the co-op housing sector will co-design the program with CMHC. The program is anticipated to commit funding for 6,000 co-op homes over the next five years. We need a lot more than 6,000 new co-op homes across the country. Most markets alone could absorb that and benefit from at least that many, but this is an incredibly important start.
We've been reflecting on what did and didn't work so well with previous federal co-op housing programs and how today's housing markets differ. With that in mind, we look forward to a co-op housing development program that focuses on scale, supports acquisition alongside development and enables the co-op housing sector to lead the way by directly delivering the program.
Our sector's excitement to start building more co-op housing is tempered by the fact that we know more is needed to solve the housing crisis. In particular, we know the crisis is hitting indigenous people in urban, rural and northern communities particularly hard. The budget committed 300 million for the development of an urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy, which is a start, but it is broadly agreed that this funding level is inadequate. Alongside other advocates, Canada's housing co-ops have been calling for a robustly funded urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy developed for and by the indigenous housing sector for years, and we'll continue to do so.
I'll close with appreciation and a sight line on what we can accomplish by building new co-op housing. I equally encourage all the committee members to do what they can to realize a meaningful investment in an urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy going forward.
Thank you again for your time and for the invitation to appear here today. I look forward to your questions.