This week Calgary City Council’s executive committee voted in favour of a notice of motion to create an Housing and Affordability Task Force and a housing security commission. Councillor Walcott, who brought the notice of motion, emphasized that even though Calgary has not reached the affordable housing crisis of other large cities like Toronto or Vancouver, “every year the gap between housing price and income gets bigger and bigger.” His concerns are often validated. For instance, the latest  National Rent Report recently reported year-over-year, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom unit in Calgary rose 10.2% in 2022, and from 2020 to 2021 the cost of the average home rose by 31% in Canada. Some other interesting stats:

• 81,240 households in Calgary are in need of affordable housing. That is, households that spend more than 30% of their income on shelter and earn less than $63,267 annually.
• According to a 2021 Scotiabank report, Calgary ranks with Toronto, Hamilton and Kitchener for the least housing supply and Canada has the lowest housing units of any G7 country.

Access to safe and affordable housing helps create inclusive communities and makes our city a great place for citizens of all income levels to live and work. In fact, studies show there is an average 41% reduction in the use of public systems, such as emergency rooms or the justice system – about $34,000 annual savings – per person housed.

We’re pleased to see this new motion and we encourage Calgarians to start asking questions about affordability and what can be done. We’ll be eagerly watching the outcome of the June 7 vote.

Resources

• VCC’s Lee Stevens had a chance to discuss the new motion with the Calgary Herald and the gap in affordable housing units being built in the city and what’s needed.
• VCC and the Edmonton Social Planning Council analyzed the Government of Alberta’s affordable housing strategy.
• The City of Calgary provides an overview of affordable housing in the city.
• Housing is one of 10 levers of change that represent specific areas of focus that must be addressed if we are to reduce poverty in Calgary. Learn more.
• One of the Federal Government’s key priorities in Budget 2022 was making housing more affordable. However, these experts say measures will do little to help those who need it the most.