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CHMC says Expectations High for Proposed National Housing Strategy

Sep 6, 2016 | 2:30 PM

OTTAWA – The head of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says the combined cost of all the expectations for a national housing strategy would likely be too much for the federal budget to handle.

CMHC president and CEO Evan Siddall says the Crown corporation is looking to craft a path forward on housing for the federal government that makes the best use of available government funds to maximize social and economic outcomes for Canadians.

He says officials at CMHC will be wading through mountains of information in the coming weeks to craft policy recommendations that will be privately passed along to the federal government.

The CMHC only plans to make public by Nov. 22 the results of what the corporation hears during its ongoing consultations.

The “Let’s Talk Housing” consultations started in earnest in June with the launch of an online portal.

Consultations will shift into high gear this week in Ottawa as CMHC convenes housing experts for three days of roundtable discussions on how to make housing affordable and increase the supply of social housing and rental units, among other topics.