Canada Launches C$6.0Bn Housing Fund in Bid to Quell Housing Crisis

• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday launched a C$6.0Bn (US$4.42Bn) Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund to accelerate the construction and upgrading of housing.

• The fund is one of the many schemes proposed by the government to spur the construction of houses and will be a part of the upcoming budget on April 16.

• The government will allocate around one-fifth of the money to municipalities to build critical infrastructure around houses and the rest will go to provinces and territories to build houses for the middle class.

• Canada faces a housing affordability crisis as a rapidly increasing immigrant population has far outpaced the number of available homes, increasing prices and rents. Additionally, 22-year high interest rates have also recently driven up mortgage costs.

• Of the C$6.0Bn, C$1.0Bn is slated to be allocated to municipalities to support urgent infrastructure needs such as water, sanitation etc. The remaining C$5.0Mn will be for agreements with provinces and territories to support long-term priorities.

(Source: Reuters)