It’s never a normal day at our ReStore, but today was even more special than usual.
Members of Parliament Pam Damoff and Karina Gould, as well as Andrew Balahura from Halton Region were in Habitat for Humanity’s Halton-Mississauga’s Burlington ReStore today to celebrate a historic initiative from our federal government.
All three, along with our affiliate’s CEO John Gerrard, spoke about what the NHS means for our community. MP Gould and Damoff both had a role in the development of the strategy, and were instrumental in broadcasting the message from our community – that a National Housing Strategy is of the utmost importance. This message sprouted from a roundtable hosted by our local MPs, and we believe has a lot to do with our country finally developing a National Housing Strategy of its own.
The National Housing Strategy is a ten-year, $40 billion plan. The government says it will strengthen the middle class, fuel our economy and give more Canadians a safe and decent place to live.
The goal of the strategy is to make Canadians across the country have access to housing that meets their needs and that they can afford. According to the government, 1.7 million Canadian families don’t have a house that meets their basic needs.
Part of NHS’s rollout will involve investing in 100,000 new affordable homes. The NHS also has a specific focus on meeting the needs of Canada’s most vulnerable populations, including seniors, women and children fleeing violence, veterans, and the disabled. The strategy was also developed with a gender-based lens, ensuring that none of the strategy’s branches will negatively impact Canadians based on gender or gender expression.
At Habitat for Humanity our goal is for everyone to have a safe and decent place to live. It is encouraging to see this message reflected in our federal government’s housing strategy.
We thank both members of parliament for attending the announcement at our Habitat for Humanity affiliate, and look forward to working with them in the future to help roll out the National Housing Strategy. There is much work to do. Mississauga and Halton Region are two of the most expensive places to live in the entire country, and as the price of housing rises, so too does the need for affordable housing options.
Habitat for Humanity Halton-Mississauga counts itself lucky then to have such wonderful partners in government and in the surrounding community. It is so encouraging to be working alongside people with the same vision in our community. We believe that by working together we will be able to achieve more in our community than ever before.
We can’t wait to see where these next years take us.
