A federal audit found the Trudeau Liberals mismanaged a housing crisis in the one jurisdiction where it has complete oversight — First Nations reserves.Housing Minister Sean Fraser has promised to solve the housing crisis for the entire nation by 2031, per Blacklock’s Reporter. “Many First Nations communities are facing a housing crisis due to increased demand for housing as a result of rapid growth and accelerated deterioration of existing housing stock due to overcrowding and poor housing construction,” said the federal evaluation on on-reserve housing. Auditors said housing demand “far exceeds the funding available.” They concluded First Nations are short 55,000 new homes due to population growth. Canada’s indigenous population grew 9% since 2016.“It is expected that with population growth and First Nations members moving back to their communities the need for new housing will grow by a further 80,000 homes by 2040,” wrote auditors. The figure did not include 81,000 existing homes in need of repair.Auditors found, despite housing shortages, cabinet from 2016 had cut annual funding for its On-Reserve Housing Program from $403.69 million a year to $356.6 million, a 12% reduction.“The magnitude of existing and future demands of housing far exceeds the funds available,” said the report.The shortage appeared man-made and not market driven, wrote auditors. “There is a lack of sufficient space or land, serviced lots and public infrastructure to support new housing development,” they wrote.“The department’s infrastructure programs share many similarities when it comes to the challenges being faced from funding inefficiency, program design and delivery, capacity and staff turnover to data and results measurement.”Cabinet has estimated nationwide millions of new housing starts are required to restore affordability. Fraser has promised to build 3.9 million homes by 2031.“Your government has set some pretty ambitious targets to build homes for Canadians,” Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis told a May 22 hearing of the Commons Transport Committee. “Your government’s goal is 3.9 million homes by 2031. That is 1.09 homes that must be built every minute. That’s 65 homes per hour.”“I am not going to look anyone in the eye and tell them things are perfect when it comes to housing,” replied Fraser. “I am going to be the first to say I know we need to do more, but then I am going to be the person who actually goes and does it.”Completion of 3.9 million new homes in addition to current construction rates would require 731,500 starts annually, almost triple the all-time record of 273,200 starts set in 1976. “Not a chance,” Richard Lyall, president of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario, testified May 27 at the Commons Human Resources Committee.“We’re in a crisis moment,” said Lyall. “It’s not just a crisis of housing, it’s a crisis of growth management. The data points are truly shocking.”
