Canada's housing minister says working people should be able to afford to live where they work as rental prices grow beyond reach of even high-income professionals.
Sean Fraser says the federal government is looking at a number of ways to work with provinces and municipalities to speed up the construction of housing through subsidies and other incentives and drive prices down.
He says people’s circumstances are varied, but couldn’t point to a number he thinks is reasonable for a one-bedroom apartment as the average in Vancouver was recently reported at around three-thousand dollars.
Mayor @MarianneAlto and I might have a slight height difference… but we’re completely aligned on solving the housing crisis. Had a great chat on how Victoria will leverage the federal Housing Accelerator Fund to build the new homes this program will unlock. pic.twitter.com/U4VBwBL9nv
— Sean Fraser (@SeanFraserMP) August 14, 2023
Fraser says the federal government should have never got out of the housing game in the first place, and building rental housing for people across the income spectrum is a priority as more Canadians struggle to keep a roof over their heads.