Kitchener welcomes affordable housing as centrepiece of 2022 federal budget

Late today, the federal government announced 2022 Budget: A Plan to Grow Our Economy and Make Life More Affordable, which outlined significant investments in various areas of interest to Canadian cities and communities including housing, climate initiatives, and economic growth.

“The federal government, through the 2022 federal budget, is clearly focusing on affordable housing, housing supply and skyrocketing prices,” said City of Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic. “In our community, and across Canada, the single biggest issue is the price and supply of housing. I am happy to see the federal government invest $4 billion over the next 5 years in a Housing Accelerator Fund, with a goal of building 100,000 new homes, and continuing to invest in the Rapid Housing Initiative with a $1.5 billion top-up, among other investments. The City of Kitchener stands ready to continue working with our federal, provincial and regional government partners, as well as the private and not-for-profit sectors, in ending homelessness, increasing housing supply, and making housing more affordable.”

The federal government is also supporting housing affordability by changing foreign buying and property flipping rules. Foreign buyers will be banned for two years from buying certain housing, such as condos, apartments and single residential units. However, permanent residents, foreign workers, and students will be excluded from this measure.

The federal government’s Budget 2022 has also focused on a strong growing and resilient economy. The Toronto-Waterloo Innovation corridor has out paced Silicon Valley in 2019-20 in terms of growth in tech jobs. From a $1 billion investment to the Strategic Innovation Fund to support life sciences and bio-manufacturing to $1.5 billion for regional development agencies to support economic recovery, this budget aligns with many of the priorities identified in Kitchener’s Make it Kitchener 2.0 economic development strategy.

“Kitchener and Waterloo Region are an integral part of Canada and Ontario’s economic growth as we look to our country’s future coming out of the pandemic,” added Mayor Vrbanovic. “I am very pleased to see many opportunities in this budget to further partner with Ottawa in the year ahead as we look to ensure that we continue to create a community with great career and lifestyle opportunities for everyone.”

Climate action and investment in green initiatives and infrastructure was also a significant aspect of the 2022 federal budget. This includes increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road, building a national network of electric vehicle charging stations, clean electricity, and protecting our freshwater, amongst other items.

“We need to continue taking action on climate change, today, tomorrow, and well into the future,” said Mayor Vrbanovic. “No one action will fix climate change, but a series of actions over a long period of time will have a positive impact on our climate and bring us closer to meeting our commitments made in Paris. Today’s federal announcements continue us on a path to a stronger economy and a healthier environment.”

For more information, please contact:

Paul Grivicic, Chief of Staff
City of Kitchener
226-749-3410
paul.grivicic@kitchener.ca

Bethany Rowland, Director of Corporate Communications & Marketing
City of Kitchener
226-752-9038
bethany.rowland@kitchener.ca