No federal dollars are coming to help ease Red Deer’s affordable housing crunch, so Mayor Ken Johnston said a “community solution” will have to be found.
He revealed during a speech at the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Wednesday, that the City of Red Deer found out this week its application for $16 million of federal housing funds was declined. Johnston said, typically, no reasons are given.
This is the third time the City of Red Deer was passed over for federal assistance to alleviate what’s been described as a dire shortage of permanent supportive housing and other kinds of affordable housing. “It was frustrating…. I am very disappointed,” said Johnston.
According to local studies, the city lacks 300 to 400 below-market rental accommodations. Of these about 120 are needed for people who require permanent supportive housing. This means help with budgeting, paying rent on time, and other everyday necessities.
He noted a private developer had been interested in starting one or more affordable housing projects, if the federal funds were made available. Land had already been rezoned by the city “to get it going.” But the absence of government support now throws this effort into uncertainty.
Johnston said, “this is a community issue and we will be looking at involving all members of the community” in finding a solution.
A review of civic-owned properties has been started to see if a suitable location can be found for an affordable housing project. Johnston said providing free land would substantially reduce building costs and could “incentivize” developers.
He told chamber members Red Deer is the most affordable city in Alberta — and this could be working against the city’s applications for government housing support. But he noted we still have a large homeless population, and citizens who are on the brink of losing the roof over their heads, due to rising rents.
Johnston received a letter from a single mother of two children whose rent went up by $300 twice in one year, taking her monthly payments to $1,500 from a previous $900. As a result, “she is afraid of losing her housing…
“In 2024 I would like to put a dent in affordable housing and get some projects off the ground. Getting 100 permanent supportive housing units started in 2024 would be amazing,” Johnston added.
The mayor did not provide an update on when a site for Red Deer’s permanent homeless shelter would be announced. For many months, the mayor has only stated negotiations are on-going for a yet unknown property that had been approved by the province.
Earlier this week, city council met behind closed doors to discuss “next steps” for the project.
Johnston said a special in camera meeting for more council shelter discussions will be held on March 11. He hopes council will be in a position to release public information at the next council meeting on March 18, but he said, it will depend on how the private discussions go.
