Achi news desk-
The federal government’s proposed housing reforms are a good first step but not enough for Alberta, a housing advocate says.
Calgary resident Jessica Bird has been living in her apartment for the past four years. When her family first moved into the then-renovated unit, the rent was $1,075 a month, with everything included. The landlord increased her rent to $1,300 last March.
When Bird renewed her lease in April this year, she was told she could only sign a three-month lease because her landlord wanted to see what the rental market would be like by July 1. Bird told Global News the landlord said he would r rent increases by another $700 to $900 a month, meaning the apartment could cost Bird and her family $2,100 a month.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to afford $2,100 a month. If we could afford that, then we could get a mortgage,” he said.
Bird said she has been looking for other places to rent for the past year but everything is out of her budget. According to a report by the Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is 1,695 per month, up 14.3 per cent year on year.
Bird said she is considering buying an RV and winterizing it if necessary.
“I see a lot more homeless people. I see a lot more people without a home. I see a lot more people needing social services, and I feel really bad for the parents out there with kids. My husband and I will survive, but if we had young ones, I have no idea what we would even do,” she said.
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Bird said he’s not sure whether rent caps will work in Alberta because a program like that has never existed in the province, but he said the affordable housing crisis is sad.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month announced three new proposed reforms in the 2024 budget that aim to protect Canadian renters and help them break into the housing market. They include amending the Canadian Mortgage Charter to allow tenants to count on-time rent payments toward their credit score, and offering $15 million in new funding to provincial legal aid organizations to protect tenants from unfair rent payments.
The federal government is also proposing a new Canadian Renter’s Bill of Rights, which would require landlords to disclose property valuation history so renters can bargain fairly.
Trudeau says the bill will “crack down on renewals, create a standardized lease agreement across the country, and give more agency to renters.”
Dale Whitmore, director of policy and law reform at the Canadian Center for Housing Rights, said the reforms “reflect the rights and needs of renters across the country.”
According to Whitmore, renter protections are a “patchwork” and vary depending on which state or territory you live in.
“Nowhere in Canada (where renter protections) are very adequate, so we think it’s a great step,” he told Global News. “It’s important that the federal government takes it seriously and works with renters to make sure that actually provides those protections.”
Whitmore said Alberta has some of the fastest rent increases in Canada, in large part because there are no rent caps. Currently, there is no limit to what landlords can charge and increase for rent.
“(Rent caps) is one of the things that is essential. What is included in the Tenant’s Bill of Rights is the right to a reasonable rent and protection from excessive rent increases,” he said.
“It’s not going to be a surprise to anyone that we are in an affordable housing crisis in Canada. We’re getting to the point where literally half of the renters in Canada are worried about being able to pay their rent, and it’s only getting worse. “
But Whitmore said the proposed solutions won’t immediately solve the complex problem. He said states are the ones who still have to adapt the new national standard.
“It’s a long road, possibly, but it’s worth it, too, because renters aren’t going to settle for anything less at the moment,” he said.
“(The federal announcement) announced what they call a comprehensive plan and they’ve already gone into quite a bit of detail about what it will look like. So what we see is that there is good news. The fact that they are looking at housing and all for the first time in decades is good news.
“It’s all well and good to build more houses, but the size of the scheme that has been set aside for affordable housing is not sufficient for the need. And we’d like to see a lot more of that to go along with the focus on supply.”
— with files from Naomi Barghiel, Global News
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
