The federal government said it will spend more than two billion dollars to build 17,000 homes, including thousands of affordable housing units.

The announcement came yesterday from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the city of Kitchener, located about 100 kilometers west of Toronto, the capital of Ontario province and the largest city in Canada.

Alongside the Liberal Prime Minister was the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, Ahmed Hussen. They had met before the announcement with a number of local politicians and housing advocates.

Trudeau said that housing prices have risen across Canada and that many Canadians fear they will not be able to afford housing, whether they want to rent or are looking to buy.

When people have stable homes, they can build a more stable life. They can participate in their local communities and help build them. They can contribute their skills to the business sector and to organizations active in our economy, and we all benefit from that.

Yesterday’s announcement included extending the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI / ICRL) to a third round that includes building 4,500 affordable housing units, some of which will be part of housing projects aimed at women and those targeting people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

The government launched the mentioned program in 2020, providing funding to enable the rapid construction of new homes and the purchase of existing buildings to convert them into affordable housing units.

Trudeau said yesterday that the first two rounds of the program are expected to produce 10,000 housing units, which is one-third more than the originally planned 7,500 units.

At least 10,800 other housing units will be built through the Affordable Housing Innovation Fund (AHIF / FILA), 6,000 of which will be affordable housing units.

The federal government is also working on implementing a program to rent units for five years with an option to own, aiming to help develop and test rent-to-own models and projects.

Funding for these projects was allocated in the federal budgets presented in 2021 and 2022.