Minister Responsible for Housing Rich Coleman has issued the following statement in response to the release of the Metro Vancouver Regional Homelessness Task Force Report:

“The Metro Vancouver Regional Homelessness Task Force Report provides a reminder that partnerships are necessary to provide the supports to address and prevent homelessness. All levels of government and community-based organizations must work together to address this challenging issue.

“Together with the federal government and our community partners, the B.C. government invested more than $375 million in Metro Vancouver last year to provide affordable housing and rent supplements to more than 61,000 low-income households. This includes more than $138 million to provide emergency shelter and housing for the homeless.

“There are about 1,900 units of affordable rental housing, including nearly 300 units for the homeless, in development or under construction in the region. We also recently announced approximately $100 million in capital funding to create 1,600 new units of affordable rental housing in Metro Vancouver.”

“We are proud of our investments to address homelessness in Metro Vancouver, and recognize our partners can also play more meaningful roles.

“For instance, municipal zoning could accommodate higher densities, pre-zoned land could expedite the delivery of rental housing and stronger enforcement of bylaws could help to maintain existing rental buildings. Federal actions could include tax incentives to promote creation of affordable rental housing options in the private market and facilitating access to long-term low cost financing for non-profit and private rental housing.      

“We will continue to work with other levels of government, non-profits and other community-based organizations to solve this complex issue.”

For information about the Province’s housing investments in Metro Vancouver, go to: http://www.housingmattersbc.ca/docs/fs_Metro_Region.pdf