Achi news desk-
The Calgary Chamber of Commerce has raised concerns about housing affordability, and has called on all levels of government to work together to address the issue.
In a report released Thursday titled Home Economics: Unlocking Growth through Housing Solutions, the chamber found that demand for housing is “skyrocketing,” with Calgary registering record population growth last year, with 96,000 of new residents.
According to the report, housing supply is only increasing slightly, with low vacancy rates in the Calgary rental market. To help tackle this, it will be necessary to build doubling units.
Demand for housing is also outstripping supply, causing the cost of real estate to increase dramatically, the report noted.
Ruhee Ismail-Teja of the Calgary Chamber said affordability has been one of Calgary’s key competitive advantages for businesses.
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“Our members have raised housing affordability at an ever-increasing rate because they know it’s important to their business more than ever before.”
He added that this is becoming a key priority for businesses.
“They have a very hard time attracting labor and that has been consistent over the years and Calgary’s affordability advantage has been critical for businesses.”
Last year the City of Calgary approved a strategy to address housing affordability, including a rezoning initiative, a secondary series incentive program and making city-owned land available for non-profit affordable housing providers.
City officials said progress has been made on implementing the strategy, with five of the 98 recommendations completed in the last update given in May.
The federal government had also announced funding for Calgary to accelerate the construction of 6,800 units over the next three years.
The Calgary Chamber said it is meeting with all three levels of government and presenting ideas to help address the labor shortage. This includes building more affordable housing, increasing the number of construction workers and cutting red tape.
“One of the biggest challenges we see is the gap between where we are and where we need to go is so significant that it needs more resources and attention,” said Ismail-Teja.
“The economy doing well really depends on people doing well and so we know that good economic policy is good social policy and vice versa.”
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