Ontario Construction News staff writer
Nationtalk: Ontario Construction News – The federal government says it has allocated more than $332 million in funding to help construct 616 new homes and repair 40 existing ones in Ottawa.
The announcement was made last Thursday by Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Member of Parliament for Kanata – Carleton, and Yasir Naqvi, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre.
They spoke at a news conference at Odenak, a project under construction on public land at 665 Albert St. The bulk of the funding — $310 million – will go for this project.
The Dream LeBreton project, a partnership between the federal government, the City of Ottawa, Dream Unlimited Corp, Dream Impact Trust, and Multifaith Housing Initiative (MHI), will see the construction of 608 new rental homes, 251 of which will be designated as affordable and reserved for Indigenous Peoples, Veterans, newcomers, adults with cognitive disabilities, women, and children. At least 31% of the units will be accessible, and the amenities and common areas will be barrier-free.
The project will receive a total of $233 million in low-interest loans from the federal government’s Apartment Construction Loan Program (ACLP), $27.7 million in forgivable loans and $21.6 million in repayable loans from the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF), and $27.5 million under the Federal Lands Initiative (FLI).
“We are proud to work with the federal government, the City of Ottawa and MHI to create an innovative financing model that will increase the number of affordable housing units from 20% to 41% through a combination of AHF and ACLP financing,” Dream president Michael Cooper said in a statement.
“This approach can be applied to other projects and increase the amount of affordable housing built in Canada. We are also proud to begin construction on this landmark project that will foster a culture of belonging and provide a sense of safety and community for over 1,200 people thanks to funding from the dream Community Foundation.”
The statement says: “Odenak is a model for how housing can be built in partners hip with the public and not-for-profits sector, all while achieving competitive returns for private sector investors.”
Overall, the federal government says has allocated $57.57 billion to create 156,000 new housing units and repair 297,000 existing units across Canada by September 2024. Funding prioritizes vulnerable groups, including seniors, Indigenous Peoples, the homeless, and women and children fleeing violence.