Low income workers need affordable housing: chambers of commerce

The Whitehorse and Yukon chambers of commerce are still waiting to hear back from Community Services minister Brad Cathers after they sent a letter asking the government to address the need for affordable housing.

The chambers say they sent the letter at the end of October following a meeting where the government was looking for input on how to use the remaining Northern Housing Trust funding.

In the letter, they cite Yukon Bureau of Statistics numbers that the vacancy rate for apartments under $1,000 is less than 2.3 per cent, "far below" the 7.1 per cent the government cites. They also say the cancellation of the affordable housing program has had a "substantial negative impact on business" and has "eroded trust regarding government process."

The chambers say the prevailing wage at quick service restaurants in Whitehorse is $11.89 an hour, and that there are also low-income employees in the service, retail and tourism sectors.

"We want to emphasize that a target population (beyond social and senior housing needs) exists in the territory and does not have access to affordable housing," the letter states.

The chair of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce Josh Clark says there need to be more affordable places available for service workers to rent.

"It's making difficult for them to find places to call home in the Yukon, therefore they're turning away opportunities to move to the Yukon or they're looking to their employer for higher wages and so forth which puts a lot of pressure on business owners as well," he said.

The chambers want the government to partner with the private sector to increase affordable housing stock.

The chair of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce says Cathers has not replied to the letter.