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Housing
Construction of 13 000 new housing units
New affordable-housing program
The
Société d'habitation du Québec (SHQ) expects
to sign a Québec-Canada shared-cost affordable housing
agreement by December 31, 2001. This agreement will create an
affordable-housing program targeting the construction of 6 500 new
rental units, chiefly for modest-income households.
The duration of the program was initially four years. However, the term was shortened to two years under the public-sector investment acceleration plan.
The total investment will be $485 million for 2002-2003 and 2003-2004, including a contribution of $105 million by the SHQ.
AccèsLogis program
The AccèsLogis program allows housing cooperatives and non-profit organizations to offer community housing to low- to moderate-income families. The program is being renewed and improved through an injection of $50 million per year over five years, enabling construction of 6 500 housing units.
It includes three components, targeted at:
- families, people living alone and independent seniors;
- seniors with slightly diminishing abilities;
- people with special housing needs, either permanent or temporary.
Financial assistance is in the form of a grant covering between 45% and 66% of the cost of eligible work. Since November 1999, communities can contribute as little as 5% of the cost of eligible work. A mortgage loan covering the balance of the costs is fully guaranteed by the Société d’habitation du Québec.
The Québec government created the AccèsLogis program in 1997 under the Fonds québécois d’habitation communautaire, allocating it initial funding of $215 million over five years. This amount was raised to $230 million in October 2000 to cover special housing needs: conjugal violence, drug or alcohol addiction, homelessness.
From 1997 to 2002, this program will have enabled the creation of 6 400 community and social housing units.
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