APEC economist argues affordable housing approach not working

It is time to rethink our approach to affordable housing in Atlantic Canada according to Finn Poschmann, president and CEO of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC). 

Poschmann says a national housing strategy in eastern Canada should look different than the strategy in big cities like Toronto and Vancouver, and it should focus on affordable housing.

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"Affordable housing is about getting people who don't have very much income into decent shelter and the best way to do that is a longstanding question for economists," he said in an interview on Information Morning Moncton.

Information Morning - Moncton9:01If you build it, will they come?

Economist Finn Poschmann weighs in on affordable housing

In an opinion piece published this week Poschmann said in Atlantic Canada the issue must be treated as an income problem rather than a housing problem.

It's a lot more fun to see buildings go up and to take credit for them than to mail cheques to people.- Finn Poschmann

"If it's an income problem, that people do not have enough income to support decent shelter, then we should be addressing people's incomes and we have social assistance mechanisms that can be improved... to help people pay for their rent or pay for decent shelter," Poschmann said.

"We should be putting more money in peoples hands so they can afford housing rather than being in the business of directly providing it."

Public housing not working

Poschmann says most housing issues are in the domain of provincial governments, which are largely failing to provide adequate public housing.

"Many across the country are quite frankly not satisfactory," he said.

"The living conditions aren't good. People who reside in them aren't happy with those conditions and municipalities have trouble coming up with operating and repair and capital expenditures to fix those issues so those are problems — it's a system that does need help."

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Poschmann believes making rental subsidies part of social assistance payments is a more effective way to get more people into "decent" housing even though that's not always the most appealing approach for politicians.

"It's a lot more fun to see buildings go up and to take credit for them than to mail cheques to people."

In his opinion piece, Poschmann wrote, "For those who work in our communities struggling to maintain non-profit, geared-to-income or other social housing, fix what's broken, and get more needy families into shelter, it will seem nonsensical, even perhaps insulting, to suggest that they might be part of the problem."

"But perhaps they are, because we are collectively spending a lot of money to produce an insufficient quantity of not very good housing."

Poschmann said by allowing the housing market to generate the supply needed, people can choose a home that serves their needs rather than being placed in whatever home is available.