City of Hamilton opens 55 new affordable housing units for vulnerable women and children

The City of Hamilton added 55 affordable housing units this week with the opening of a new building on Bay Street North.

Mayor Andrea Horwath said the brand new CityHousing Hamilton (CHH) building includes a mix of both single and family units that will be a blend of deeply affordable, rent geared to income and moderately affordable — meaning half market rent.

"We are doing everything we can and leveraging every available resource to increase the affordable housing supply in Hamilton," Horwath said in a news release on Monday. She also attended the ribbon cutting to mark the opening.

Horwath said the housing strategy includes "utilizing city-owned surplus lands, and repurposed parking lots like this site — to build affordable housing across the entire City of Hamilton as identified by the housing secretariat."

The 55 new homes are primarily dedicated to women and their children fleeing violence, or are currently homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, the mayor said. 

"These are vulnerable women and children that will now have a safe and stable home," Horwath said. "Not only are buildings like these moving us forward on our council priority to increase the supply of affordable housing, but they also help us accelerate our response to climate change, another important priority for city council. This new build is as high performing a building as you can get."

CHH has a portfolio of 7,142 units of affordable housing in the city, providing homes for more than 13,000 Hamiltonians, the city says. CHH also manages close to 50 per cent of the purpose-built affordable rental stock in Hamilton.

Part of city's housing plan

In January, Justin Lewis, director of the city's housing secretariat, outlined the office's 2025 plans, which he said are aimed at helping ease the housing crisis. 

Lewis expected construction to begin on 42 affordable and supportive housing projects between 2025 through 2027 — totalling over 2,500 units, he said in the interview with CBC Hamilton inside the Bay Street North building before it was completed.

The housing secretariat was created in 2023 to co-ordinate a multi-department effort to build, acquire and preserve housing across Hamilton, with a particular emphasis on building affordable and supportive units, Lewis said.

In 2025, the housing secretariat will also look into how the city can help non-profit organizations buy private rental buildings at risk of being sold, Lewis said. 

Called the finance and acquisition strategy, it's "very near and dear to my heart," he said. 

This initiative is driven by the fact that between 2011 and 2021, Hamilton lost over 16,000 units that rented for below $750 a month, said a report prepared for council. That happened as tenants moved out, were evicted or renovicted and the units were rented to new tenants for more money.

More projects to open by summer

Nrinder Nann, president of the CHH board and Ward 3 councillor, said Monday's opening "marks our ongoing commitment as a city to providing affordable housing for Hamiltonians." 

Over the past six months, CHH has added 79 brand new spaces for people to call home, with another 82 projected to open by summer, Nann said in the news release.

"These tangible results can be accomplished when we prioritize housing solutions like the reusing of city parking lots to unlock funding and directly meet needs that exist across our city," added Nann.

Affordability — and in particular the cost of housing — are top of mind in the provincial election campaign now underway.

Hundreds of readers have told CBC News that housing is their number one ballot box issue. The same was true during the last provincial election in 2022.

During that campaign, PC Leader Doug Ford promised to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031. The target was the first recommendation made by Ontario's housing affordability task force earlier that same year.

Fast forward to 2025 and progress on new construction has stalled, while new home sales of all types have stagnated in many parts of the province.