New affordable housing plans give 'hope for the future' for those on waitlist

Two housing developments planned for Windsor would see 30 new units come online amid strong demand for affordable housing.

The units are being built through $7.8 million in new funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Rapid Housing Initiative.

Windsor council passed a motion Monday allowing both projects to move forward, and approving $2.8 million in city reserve funds to supplement the federal contribution, along with approving operational costs for one of the developments that will be city run.

One project is in partnership with Can-Am Urban Native Homes. It consists of 12 two-bedroom units, including 10 accessible units, built at a cost of $5.2 million.

It's the first project for the group since tenants moved into the Anishinabe Gamik apartments in 2011, according to Eric Hill, executive director of the organization.

"When you get to this point, you realize how many pieces, moving parts have to come together for this to be successful," he said.

"So 12 years, it's a fair length of time but, you know, hopefully we won't have to wait 12 years for the the next."

The majority of the group's nearly 100 homes are designed for families, so getting more two-bedroom units will help a lot.

"It is extremely exciting and it gives a little bit of hope for the future for some of these people that are on our waiting list," said Amy Graf, tenant liaison with the group.

"When I tell people to still apply and we never know what's going to happen in the future, these are the kind of dreams that I have go on in my head when I think about it."

She said there are roughly 40-50 people on the waiting list for housing right now, and because of how high rents are now, people aren't moving on to bigger apartments or home ownership as quickly as they might have in the past.

"We have a lot of people staying put, which means that our lists aren't really moving," she said.

"Having a safe home space is really important in terms of like being able to propel yourself forward to make sure that your home space is safe. And once you have that set, you can kind of conquer other things in the world."

The units under Can-Am's purview will charge 30 per cent of a person's income under the prevailing shelter rate under Ontario Works, about $672, according to Hill.

"Whatever the rate is at that time, that's what the rent is going to be," he said.

"So it's going to be super affordable."

All of the units built in partnership with Can-Am are dedicated to Indigenous people who are considered vulnerable and targeted under the National Housing Strategy.

Bloomfield Road development

Council also approved a Windsor-Essex Community Housing Corporation (WECHC) project with 12 two-bedroom units and six one-bedroom units, including one barrier-free unit, built at a cost of $6.4 million.

Those 18 units are expected to be occupied by the first quarter of 2025, and the city has committed to maintaining the buildings at a cost of $165,000 a year, which would include maintenance, utilities and taxes for 20 years.

The units are part of Phase 2 of a townhouse development on Bloomfield Road, which includes 12 townhomes set to open this fall.

As of December, nearly 6,000 were on the WECHC waitlist for affordable housing.