A Tailored and Local P3 Approach to Affordable Housing

Pressure on affordable housing across Alberta and Canada is growing. It is neither feasible nor sustainable for governments to address the issue on their own. P3 (Public-Private Partnership) models show the greatest potential to address the magnitude of the issue while creating a sustainable program. By activating the private development sector, more affordable housing units can be rapidly brought on stream to meet demand. This can be accomplished by incentivizing developers to participate in projects that combine affordable and market-value housing.

Over 690,000 Albertans spend more than 30% of their before-tax household income on housing costs and 9.9% of households are in core housing need, which is unaffordable according to the standard for affordability. As of April 2021, more than 110,000 low-income Albertans live in affordable housing and more than 24,000 are on a waitlist. Waitlists are growing due to population increase and demographic changes. Additionally, the economic impact of COVID-19 is challenging the financial sustainability of Alberta’s affordable housing system.

The Alberta Chambers of Commerce recommends the Government of Alberta:

 1. Support a sustainable and locally tailored P3 approach to address affordable housing demand that actively engages private sector developers by giving municipalities the ability to borrow from the Province at a below prime interest rate, with the understanding that the Province will receive return through taxes on the full assessed value of property.