There continues to be an urgent need for affordable housing across our city, and Council remains more focused that ever on closing the housing gap.
In 2023 alone, the City invested $40.3 million in affordable and supportive housing, helping to create 412 new homes across Edmonton, including 172 units of supportive and transitional housing, with 1,955 older units renewed.
Since 2019, the City has invested a total of $165 million to help create 3,116 units of affordable housing—including 783 units of supportive housing—by providing land, grants and development expertise.
Every dollar invested by the City attracts an additional four dollars from other levels of government and affordable housing developers. Through the 2019-2022 Affordable Housing Investment Plan, the City of Edmonton’s investment has leveraged $551 million from other orders of government and in equity from providers totalling a direct investment of over $689 million.
As the year comes to an end, construction continues at Edmonton’s newest purpose-built supportive housing, here in Ward Métis. The four-storey apartment building in Holyrood will open its doors to 63 residents in early 2025. This is the sixth development the City has created in partnership with Homeward Trust since 2020.
Learn more about what it is like to live in supportive housing:
Other significant City Council decisions include:
The sale of City-owned land in Athlone to Veterans’ House Canada for $1. The non-profit agency plans to build 40 units of supportive housing, recreating a successful supportive housing model it developed in Ottawa to support veterans experiencing homelessness.
$2.7 million for Catholic Social Services to help create 33 units of transitional housing for women and children who have fled domestic violence.
$16.7 million in grants that will help non-market housing developers create 276 units of affordable and supportive housing. The next round of grant applications is now open and recommendations from the first-ever funding stream specifically for Indigenous housing will go to Executive Committee for approval in March 2024.
A new grant that covers municipal property taxes for affordable housing units operated by non-profit organizations, allowing providers to keep rental rates low, reinvest in maintenance and make future development plans
The City and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation invested $19.55 million to renew 1,955 homes managed by HomeEd and Civida, ensuring residents can rely on safe, stable and affordable housing for at least another 20 years.
In January, city administration will share its updated Affordable Housing Strategy with Council. The strategy sets short and long-term targets that will help achieve the City Plan goal of nobody in core housing need and no chronic or episodic homelessness. That includes a new target of 2,700 new or renewed affordable housing units by 2026.
To create a city where affordable housing can be found anywhere, we need Edmontonians to welcome it everywhere. Edmontonians can learn more about life inside affordable and supportive housing at edmonton.ca/WelcomeHomes.