Nelson-Creston MLA Brittny Anderson says the 2024-25 federal budget’s $8.5 billion investment in housing is a step in the right direction, but emphasizes the urgency for housing initiatives now.
On Tuesday the federal government tabled its budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which proposes $52.9 billion in additional spending over five years.
One of the biggest items to come from the budget is its commitment to housing, with a plan to unlock nearly 3.9 million homes by 2031 through its previously announced Canada Housing Plan.
Under the housing plan, is the Canada Builds Plan, which promises $1.1 billion over 10 years to convert underused federal buildings and land into homes.
The strategy is nearly a carbon copy of Premier David Eby’s $2 billion promise for similar initiatives on provincial land through his BC Builds plan, revealed in February.
Anderson says this shows her government is on the right track in its response to the housing crisis.
“Our Premier has been celebrated across North America for his really ambitious plan on addressing the housing crisis,. It’s great that British Columbians are going to benefit from this, but it’s also wonderful to know that people from across Canada are also going to benefit from the leadership that our Premier has shown.”
The federal strategy hopes to see 250,000 new homes built by 2031, however, MLA Brittny Anderson said the province aims to fill in the gaps until these projects come to fruition.
“Its good to see the federal government step up but we need to see the rollout quickly and make sure that we get that money so we can create housing for people,” she said.
“One of the key parts of Premier David Eby’s housing plan is to look for municipally owned and provincially owned land for housing. I’m glad to see that we’ll be able to access federal land for housing as well.”
The liberal budget also includes a $1.3 billion top up to the federal Reaching Homes Program, the primary funder of Nelsons Coordinated Access Hub that was recently closed due to a drop in the programs funding.
Anderson hopes that this top up of the fund will roll out to communities soon, but assures the residents that she’s working locally to find other solutions.
“I’m hopeful that we can have some of that federal funding as soon as possible to support our community now. It was super challenging with the closure of the HUB. There’s a lot of work being done on the ground here locally, and I’m working provincially to try to make sure that we have the supports in place for people.”
Overall, Anderson says her government welcomes the tabled 2024-25 budget, adding that the province will work closely with the feds to ensure British Columbians in rural and remote communities can benefit from it in the same way urban communities will.
“We’re always hopeful that the federal government is going to support us more. We’ll be working with our federal partners to make sure that British Columbia is really able to benefit from this federal budget. ”
Something going on in your part of the Kootenays you think people should know about? Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].