The Housing Matters strategy is a comprehensive approach to homelessness, backed up by a provincial housing budget that has quadrupled since 2001 to over $469 million. We’ve committed to create over 16,000 new units of subsidized housing and have more than doubled shelter beds across B.C. Shelters have doubled and are now open 24/7, and we have purchased buildings across B.C. to convert to affordable housing (including SROs in Vancouver). A new Rental Assistance Program provides $765 per month on average to subsidize 7,700 low-income families in the rental market, and more than 15,700 seniors receive an average monthly payment of about $679 through the SAFER rent subsidy program. Additionally, the B.C. Liberal government has reduced income taxes to the lowest in Canada for everyone earning up to $116,000 so that people have more resources to pay for housing and other costs.
Challenges and Opportunities:
The causes of homelessness are often linked with other issues, such as addictions and mental illness. For some homeless people, simply providing a place to stay is not sufficient to keep them off the streets – they need support services where they live. Municipalities need to be willing partners with the Province to find locations for housing developments that have community approval. At the same time, there are also thousands of families and seniors in the housing market today who require support as well through programs like SAFER and rental assistance, while people who own homes need money in their pockets to pay their mortgages. Government has an obligation to support all of these groups in different ways. Discussion:
What kind of additional supports can government put in place to transition people off the streets and into productive lives? Is subsidized housing the only option to deal with homelessness in B.C., or can the market also play a role? How can we better deal with the root causes of homelessness such as mental health and addictions? Is there a role for government in ensuring that homeowners also have support to meet their mortgages and invest in their futures?
B.C.'s small business growth leads Canada
B.C. government eliminated 164,000 pieces of red tape
B.C. Liberals lowered small business taxes
Province cut corporate taxes by one-third
Record funding for K-12 education
Class size limits enshrined in law
B.C. parents' right to volunteer guaranteed in law
Province adds more front-line staff for children at risk
B.C. Liberal government provided more funding for community infrastructure
B.C. government grants $285 M for regional economic trusts
All traffic fine revenue returned to cities annually
Provincial income tax eliminated for a quarter million low-income people
Number of child care spaces receiving operating funding almost double
B.C. Liberal government cut income taxes to lowest in Canada
Agreements providing social and economic opportunities for First Nations
B.C. Liberal Government signed modern treaties with six First Nations
Aboriginal unemployment a third lower than in 2001
B.C. Liberal government increased funding for health care by 60 per cent
B.C.'s first new regional hospital in 30 years built in Abbotsford
New hospitals under construction in five communities
Twice as many doctors being trained in B.C. than in 1990s
North America's most progressive climate action plan, praised by climatologists and economists
Carbon tax funds tax cuts and impact equal to removing 800,000 vehicles
Over 12,000 new and replacement seniors' care beds and units
Wait time for residential care down to 90 days from one year
B.C. government providing more home support care hours than ever before
B.C. Liberal government created seven new universities
