M-170 Affordable housing

That:

(a) the House recognize that,

(i) the housing affordability crisis has reached such alarming levels that most available rental housing across Canada is unaffordable for households ranging from the lowest income category to those with median incomes,

(ii) the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) current definition of housing affordability states housing costs do not exceed 30% of a household's before-tax income,

(iii) the CMHC uses widely differing affordability criteria to qualify for affordable housing funding across its programs, including 80% of the median market rent and 30% of the median total income of all households for a particular geographical area,

(iv) these criteria are not in line with the CMHC’s own definition of housing affordability,

(v) the use of inconsistent affordability criteria significantly hinders the monitoring of program outcomes against targets, which is essential for implementing an evidence-based approach to addressing the housing crisis,

(vi) as a result, only a fraction of affordable housing dollars is designated to units that meet the CMHC’s own definition of affordability for the lowest-income Canadians,

(vii) for example, just 3.6% of units created or under construction in the $55 billion Rental Construction Financing Initiative, renamed the Apartment Construction Loan Program, meet the CMHC’s own definition of affordability; and

(b) in the opinion of the House, the government should,

(i) adopt uniform deeply affordable housing funding criteria that apply to very low and low-income households earning between 0% and 50% of area median household income, and that,

(A) meet the current agreed-upon definition of affordable housing, where housing costs do not exceed 30% of a household's before-tax income,

(B) are based on the income levels of very low- and low-income renters rather than local market rents or local median incomes,

(C) consider regional variations in cost of living and income disparities,

(ii) adopt uniform affordable housing funding criteria that apply to moderate and median-income households earning between 51% and 120% of area median household income, and that,

(A) meet the current agreed-upon definition of affordable housing, where housing costs do not exceed 30% of a household's before-tax income,

(B) are based on the income levels of moderate- to median-income renters rather than local market rents or local median incomes,

(C) consider regional variations in cost of living and income disparities,

(iii) implement these new criteria for every unit funded through all unilateral and bilateral federal affordable housing funding programs, prioritizing direct and indirect subsidies for deeply affordable housing,

(iv) ensure the feasibility of combining sources of funding from different levels of government,

(v) report back to Parliament within 12 months on the progress made and its impact on federal housing policies and programs.