housing

A one story building on a streetcorner under a sunny blue sky.

Incoming Goodfellows President talks about winter stress and growing homeless population

December 12, 2023 by Aysha Mian

The population of people in Windsor struggling with homelessness has grown from 476 households to 512 from 2021- 2022. With the number rising, organizations with a mandate to help are feeling the pressure to increase their efforts.

Goodfellows, one of these organizations, focuses on providing food and basic necessities to those who need it. It even has a lunch bag program where those in need can come to the organization and pick up enough food to last them the day.

Brian Beaumont, the incoming Goodfellows president spoke with CJAM about these challenges that can arise, and how they’ve been working through them.

Against the backdrop of a cityscape is a tent encampment bordering the shore.

Premier Eby withdraws sections from Bill 45 on encampments, advocates weigh in

December 2, 2023 by Bernadine Fox

On Nov. 15, Park Board rangers descended on Crab Park dismantling tents outside the designated area. Ultimately, it resulted in violence, arrests, and people belongings being tossed. The BC Supreme Court, faced with a housing crisis, established the right to shelter in parks. Crab Park was designated as an overnight and daytime sheltering space. Recently, Bill 45 threatened this and backlash to it prompted Premier Eby to temporarily withdraw sections dealing with encampments (Katie DeRosa/Post Media) Fiona York, advocate/Crab Park Encampment, shares with CFRO why tent encampments are essential. The most recent (2023) homeless count demonstrated a 32 per cent increase in this population (notably seniors). York says both diverse and accessible housing are needed and notes that the unhoused are from diverse backgrounds including artists, mental health challenges, substance use issues, and loss of employment. A predictable disproportionate percentage are indigenous coping with systemic racism. Crab Park currently shelters 10 to 150 people.

A woman wearing a white sweater points at a picture of a run down trailer that has mold forming on the outside of it. She's showing this because some residents of Conklin have to live in these conditions over lack of proper housing. Photo was taken inside.

Northern Alberta Métis community struggles with housing

December 1, 2023 by Ryan Hunt

A Métis community in northern Albertan reported this week that it is facing a severe housing shortage.

On Wednesday, the Conklin Resource Development Advisory Committee (CRDAC) held a press conference in Edmonton to address the current housing crisis happening in Conklin, a hamlet in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB), 155 km southeast of Fort McMurray.

CRDAC reported that a recent survey noted that 86 per cent of Conklin’s roughly 229 residents are housing insecure. Most homes lack running water and power and lots have black mold on both the inside and outside.

Grace Richards, membership director of Conklin Community Association and CRDAC Board Director, is a longtime resident in Conklin who has chosen to stay in her community despite the living conditions. She moved back home from Fort McMurray a decade ago and started living in a trailer as a temporary solution, she says. Now, she still lives in that trailer, which lacks the basic necessities like running water. This motivated her to join CRDAC and advocate for better living in her community for herself, and the rest of Conklin residents.

Richards, along with the rest of CRDAC and the residents of Conklin, hope the press conference will raise awareness about the issues the community is facing, and that there will be solutions to address them.

In a statement on Nov. 29, the RMWB said “we are deeply concerned about the ongoing housing crisis in Conklin. The municipality recognizes the frustration expressed by community leaders and residents with the process involving all levels of government and commits to prioritizing and supporting housing efforts in the community.”

Grace Richards, Membership Director of Conklin Community Association & CRDAC Board Director, points at a picture of a trailer with a make-shift structure built to attach to it. This is what Grace lives in because of the lack of suitable housing in Conklin. Photo was taken inside. — Grace Richards, Membership Director of Conklin Community Association & CRDAC Board Director, shows the home she lives in year-round currently. Photo by Ryan Hunt.

CFWE will be following this story.

A screenshot from rentalregistry.ca. The webpage is split 15% on the left with a list of rental addresses and their prices near the radio station in Waterloo Region. To the right of that is a google map taking up the rest of the window with all of the locations in the database within the maps boundaries, showing up as clusters of different sized green dots.

ACORN Ontario’s Rental Registry to bring “greater transparency for renters”

November 22, 2023 by Dan Kellar

Over 8,000 renters across Ontario have registered their units with ACORN’s Rental Registry since the grassroots social and economic justice organization launched their map based online database at the end of the summer.

According to rentals.ca, which has for years tracked such data, average rents across the country are still rising at over 100$/month, with a one bedroom apartment in Waterloo averaging 1,944$ a month in October.

Today’s show features interviews with Acer Bonaparte, the chair of ACORN Waterloo Region and Geordie Dent of the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations (FMTA), a non-profit organization founded in 1974 which advocates for better rights for tenants.

The black and white cover of a report called "End Financialized Housing" by ACORN Canada. The image shows two people holding a banner which says "End Apartment Sales to Predatory Landlords".

Housing as an investment — reviewing the effects on housing prices

November 20, 2023 by Dan Kellar

As the problem of housing affordability continues to grow, community and advocacy groups continue to analyze the problem to come up with solutions.

On Oct 30th, ACORN, the grassroots social and economic justice organization with chapters across the country, delivered over 400 tenant testimonials to federal Liberal MPs including Waterloo’s Bardish Chagger, and Acorn’s National Housing Spokesperson Tanya Burkart.

CKMS News sat down with local housing advocates to talk about housing affordability in the Kitchener Waterloo Region. Featured in this program are Acer Bonaparte, the chair of the Waterloo Region chapter of ACORN; Mike Morrice, the Green Party MP for Kitchener Centre, who has been pressuring the government over the ongoing crisis in the affordability of housing in Canada since being elected in 2021; and Geordie Dent of The Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations (FMTA), which advocates for better rights for tenants.

Mayor Shawn Watters, dressed in a suit, stands before a seating area of Centre Wellington residents, one of whom, in a red coat, asks a question of him.

Mayor projects ‘variety’ of housing for Centre Wellington at town hall

September 21, 2023 by Riley Gillespie-Wilson

The future of of Centre Wellington may include a range of housing types, according to the township’s mayor.

Shawn Watters addressed locals at a Mayor’s Town Hall session last night at the Elora Centre for the Arts. Around 50 residents were present at what the township called a “casual” outdoor setting.

Watters was faced with a slew of questions regarding housing and the strategies the township will utilize in the coming years. The mayor didn’t rule out any specific type of housing, stating a “variety” of housing types will be required to address an increasing need. He also didn’t rule out the possibility of higher buildings, apartments, and even tiny homes in the next ten-to-15 years.

Watters explained these diverse housing types help keep the people in the community diverse too, referencing the need for a wide scope of demographics and age ranges in Centre Wellington.

Watters and current council were elected in October of 2022. The mayor recognizes this issue though, won’t be going away, even after this council’s term is done. Nevertheless, he reiterated his confidence in this group of staff to maintain balance between growth and maintaining what makes the township so special now.

“We’re going to have to try and balance that with what our community looks like now and how it operates now. That’s going to be our challenge,” Watters said.

“It’s going to be the challenge of this council and staff and it’ll be the challenge of the next couple of councils as well. I have no doubt we will provide a good way forward and continue to make this community a beautiful place to live,” he added.

While most delegations featured residents speaking against building “up” and the township featuring taller buildings, one resident thought otherwise.

Ian MacRae says the south end of town is an area that would be well-served to see some apartments.

“I’m suggesting we have this new Southlands area that has to be developed, why not make that all four and five storey buildings?” MacRae posed.

“You can have elevators and small parquets that people can walk to, you can have shops on the main floors, so basically, it’s a self-contained community,” he stated.

Watters sent a message to residents that Centre Wellington is a part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). He said the drive to the metropolis is shorter than most realize, and that factors into the required development of towns like Fergus and Elora.

“I think sometimes we think that we’re not part of the GTA, but if you look at a physical distance between from Queen’s Park we’re an hour and 20 minutes,” Watters explained.

“There are communities, 29 communities in and around the GTA, that have been identified for growth, and even beyond the GTA. We’re part of that secondary area, and we’re required to pick up some of that growth as well,” he went on.

Watters told attendees the township will eventually look like a 2013 Barrie, Ontario, projecting this growth will occur within the next decade or so.

While he has no exact timeline, one thing is certainly on the mayor’s mind: housing is “a problem for everyone.”

Other issues addressed included traffic problems related to this projected growth, and inquiries about the urban boundary. A separate open house followed the event, strictly addressing parking strategy.

A group of government officials and support workers sitting in modern black office chairs around a circular-like and hollow conference table. A large flat screen monitor hangs on the far wall, showing a political meeting's web streamed proceedings.

PEC Council amends short term accommodations rules to make them more family friendly

September 18, 2023 by Alexander Wright

On Tuesday (Sept. 12), a small but significant change to the Short-Term Accommodation (STA) by-law was approved, which restores the allowance of one under ten-year-old child per licensed guest room that permits two guests.

South Marysburgh Councillor John Hirsch explained the rational for the amendment and the desire to fix an unintended consequence of the new STA by-law, passed last year:

“When we made changes to the by-law, at least its operation in 2022, it seemed we got rid of the intent that had originally been enacted in 2018, to allow children not to count in the per-bedroom limit.”

According to county staff, children ten and over will still count as regular guests, due to the fire code.