Skip to content

Council looks for "low hanging fruit" in fight for affordable housing

Housing affordability efforts continue with report
Ken MacKay CC 1046
An affordable housing crisis is one of the important issues for the city, says Coun. Ken MacKay. FILE PHOTO/St. Albert Gazette

St. Albert city council is looking for “low-hanging fruit” to help tackle an affordable housing crisis one councillor described as “looming,” while administration chip away at a larger project.

On July 8, councillors received an update on the city’s housing affordability project, which developed out of their strategic priorities for this year.

The update included a report looking at the scope of St. Albert’s affordability problem. According to latest data available from the National Housing Survey in 2016, 21 per cent of individuals or families who rent in St. Albert spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing – a level of cost that puts them in a "core housing need" category.

“I think this is one of the important issues for this council, so I look forward to trying to determine who our dance partner is and actually focusing our efforts on solving a crisis I think is looming in our community,” Coun. Ken MacKay said after hearing the report.

The report said the St. Albert Food Bank reported 61 per cent of its clients in April spend half their income on rent – an increase from 57 per cent in prior months.

An average salary of $21.76 per hour is needed in order to cover the average $1,061 rent of a one-bedroom apartment in St. Albert. Minimum wage earners would be spending 43.5 per cent of their income on rent; minors who support themselves would be in even more dire straits since the new provincial government made minimum wage $13 per hour for youth.

The affordable housing report went through research to date and outlined potential opportunities for increasing housing affordability by various mechanisms, including through land strategies, partnerships, regulatory measures and governance.

From here, the city will be researching the top 10 opportunities that could be implemented well and provide value to the city, which council will review in the second quarter of 2020.

MacKay made an information request for administration to come back with any “low hanging fruit” the city could tackle early on. Administration is set to return by early August with information.

Not “one magic wand fix”

The current initiative to deal with high housing costs is building upon recommendations from the city’s 2015 Housing Diversity Action Plan, according to St. Albert affordable housing liaison Lory Scott.

Scott noted some of the key moves that came out of the 2015 action plan included amending the Land Use Bylaw to allow for a great variety of suites and dwelling forms, and modifying regulations so they were more developer-friendly.

The greatest approach to improving affordability, Scott said, is an integrated one using a variety of strategies.

“There's no one single approach that will really provide you with a great impact on affordability,” she said. “I guess it’s like a diet: you have to save a little bit here and save a little bit there in order to have a bigger impact.”

Some strategies outlined to produce the most value at the least cost to the city include collaborating more effectively with Homeland Housing, creating an advocacy plan for housing funding to other levels of government and repurposing surplus school sites for affordable housing.

Earlier this month, following a discussion at council about repurposing the Oakmont school site, a local school board said they were not willing to part with the 16-acre parcel of land.

Coun. Natalie Joly echoed MacKay’s request for a report on low-hanging fruit, and in an interview agreed that creating more housing affordability will involve a combination of strategies.

From working with developers to ensure they can develop a variety of product to working with not for profits looking at people who are in crisis, Joly said the city continues to make efforts to keep pace with its growth.

“It’s not a one magic wand fix,” she said.

“Residents absolutely want diversity in St. Albert and we’re going to have to decide how that looks and how we build it out.”

St. Albert Housing Society director Malcolm Parker said the demand is “certainly there” for affordable housing in St. Albert, and noted the society could easily fill up a second affordable housing centre of 50 to 60 units “in a heartbeat.” They currently run affordable housing units at Big Lake Pointe.

“It’s a moving target but there is a need for it, and probably even more so given the state of the economy in Alberta right now,” Parker said.

In February, a deal years in the making between the housing society and the City of St. Albert fell through after a breakdown in negotiations. The deal would have outlined how the society would be funded and how its dollars would be spent.

Parker said the society has not given up on lobbying council, but in the meantime is looking at the possibility of engaging with other partners.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks