Calgary’s housing and affordability task force announced six recommendations that aim to improve housing affordability for residents.
The task force claims the recommendations will create a more equitable, inclusive and affordable housing market for Calgarians and ensure everyone will have access to safe and adequate housing.
In a news release on Thursday morning, the task force said the recommendations are “tailored to the unique needs and context of Calgary.”
The recommendations are also informed by best practices from other jurisdictions, according to the news release, as well as opinions from 18 experienced contributors and an open forum through the city’s engagement portal.
The recommendations come as renters in Calgary are asking for more housing supports as rents reach record highs.
According to Zumper’s rent research portal, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment as of Thursday is $1,800 a month. This is a 42 per cent increase compared with this last time last year, according to data from the website.
Others have lower averages for the city: RentFaster’s rent report pegged Calgary’s one-bedroom apartment average rent at $1,742 a month.
“Calgary has long been known as the Canadian city with a competitive edge for housing
affordability and availability. In order to remain a city that offers high levels of livability and opportunity, urgent action is needed,” said Mayor Jyoti Gondek in an emailed statement.
“The privilege of welcoming new arrivals comes with increasing struggles for people to find or keep their rental unit or buy a first home. ”
Boosting housing supply in Calgary
The first three recommendations aim to boost the affordable housing supply in the city.
The task force recommends the city make it easier to build housing across the city and make more land available to build that additional housing.
It also urged the city to ensure affordable housing meet the needs of equity-deserving groups, such as Indigenous Peoples, in Calgary.
“My worry about people who are experiencing homelessness is that there is less choice all the time, and the folks that think they’re not going to be homeless might be homeless because they just won’t be able to afford a place to live or have a choice of where they live,” said Patricia Jones, chief executive officer of the Calgary Homeless Foundation.
Encouraging collaboration among stakeholders
The next three recommendations aim to strengthen the housing sector by encouraging collaboration between the city and key stakeholders.
Recommendations four to six include convening the housing sector to collaborate, increasing investments to support housing providers and ensuring Calgarians have a safe home.
Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott said it will be hard to dismantle old systems because they have been in place for decades, but it is time to take “bold and decisive action.”
It is also time for the city to build inward and look at opportunities to build more housing in the city, he said.
“This plan about building in established areas, making it simpler and bringing more people inside, that’s about giving people choice everywhere in the city, and now that choice might actually be more affordable to live where we already have services,” Walcott told reporters.
“If you actually want to build housing affordability in the city, it will take a community effort, working together to ensure that choice is available everywhere.
“You want your community to participate in solving the housing crisis … It’s not going to be easy, but I think it’s something everyone has to take part in it.”
Recommendations a good starting point: expert
Some experts are applauding the recommendations, saying the city is doing a good job at recognizing the housing affordability crisis in Calgary.
Ron Kneebone, an economics professor at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, said it is a good thing to build more affordable housing units. He also lauded the recommendations that urge co-operation between the city and landlords because everyone is a part of the solution.
“If you provide more land, it will make housing cheaper. And that, of course, makes it easier for people to afford,” Kneebone told Global News on Thursday.
“It’s crazy for the government to be having land sitting vacant and not being used so it should be put to work.”
Kneebone noted that while it’s good to build more affordable housing, maintenance costs need to be discussed and included in the discussion.
“There are units, but many of them are in dire need of maintenance and to be refurbished, and that’s also part of the solution,” the professor said.
“I understand the Calgary Housing Corporation has a number of units that are not occupied because they’re simply not safe. They haven’t been maintained.”
David White, a professional urban planner with Civic Works, said the city needs to use the land use bylaw and rezone areas on a broader scale instead of a case-by-case basis.
He said the city has the tools to take the best parts of the land use bylaw and make it work to build more affordable housing, especially mixed-use residences.
“I think there’s going to be a need for quite a bit of conversation, focused conversation, collaboration and a little bit of courage to see council take the leap to look at those best selling tools and apply them more broadly,” White said.
“The type of zoning which enables stacked townhomes and row houses can make a real impact on a much broader area.”