Posts Tagged ‘allocation’

Record Investment of More than $820 Million for Affordable Housing in Quebec

Comments: 0November 2nd, 2009 by admin

Posted by Moishe Alexander

he governments of Canada and Quebec are partnering to provide a joint investment to build new affordable housing and renovate existing social housing throughout Quebec. In addition to providing economic stimulus, this investment will help create jobs and improve the quality of life for people across all regions of the province.

Both levels of government officially signed an extension to the Agreement for residential renovation and adaptation programs and the amending agreement for the Affordable Housing Initiative, which includes Canada’s Economic Action Plan, resulting in a joint investment of more than $820 million over the next two years.

The Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of Intergovernmental Affaires, President of the Queen’s Privy Council and Minister for la Francophonie, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and Laurent Lessard, Minister of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy, made the announcement at a signing ceremony today.

“The Government of Canada continues to work hard to support Canadians during these challenging economic times and has moved quickly to ensure Canada’s Economic Action Plan is implemented rapidly,” said Minister Verner. “We are stimulating our economy, while helping people in need, including seniors, persons with disabilities and low-income individuals, access suitable, affordable housing. We are also making needed renovations to existing social housing both in Quebec and across Canada.”

“We are partnering to build new affordable housing and renovate existing social existing to help Quebec households access adequate housing conditions. We are very proud that we can make a real contribution to the wellness of the population by providing access to a quality housing environment. In addition, these major investments will promote job creation — a plus for our economy and a source of wealth for Quebecers,” said Minister Lessard.

The investments announced today include $384 million from the Government of Canada, while the Government of Quebec is contributing a further $439 million.

Of the more than $820 million, the Government of Canada will allocate $269 million over two years under Canada’s Economic Action Plan as part of a one-time investment of more than $2 billion to build new and renovate existing social housing. Quebec will also contribute the same amount for these initiatives, over the next two years.

These investments build upon the $1.9 billion five-year commitment for housing and homelessness programs announced by the Government of Canada in September 2008, which extended the Affordable Housing Initiative and the renovation programs for low-income households for two more years. The extension of these programs means that a further sum of $285 million ($115 million from the Government of Canada and $170 million from the Government of Quebec) will be invested to build new affordable housing and assist low-income households with needed renovations to their homes.

CMHC has been Canada’s national housing agency for more than 60 years. CMHC is committed to helping Canadians access a wide choice of quality, affordable homes and making vibrant and sustainable communities and cities a reality across the country.

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Posted in CMHC, Canada, affordable housing

Social Housing in Toronto Being Renovated

Comments: 0September 1st, 2009 by admin

Posted by Moishe Alexander
The Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario today announced that three social housing projects in the City of Toronto will receive support for repairs and renovations over the next two years.

Repairs will include the replacement of windows and balconies, installation of energy efficient lights and carbon monoxide sensors and the replacement of appliances in the following buildings:

* Les Centres d’Accueil Heritage at 33 Hahn Place, $1.1 million.
* Toronto Community Housing Corporation at 30 and 40 Teesdale Place, $2 million.
* Mimico Co-op at 1 Summerhill Road, $403,300.

The $3.5 million investment is part of a notional allocation of more than $220 million for the City of Toronto to repair and retrofit existing local social housing units over the next two years.

The funding was made available as a result of a $1.2 billion joint investment under the amended Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement, which includes funding through Canada’s Economic Action Plan and by the Government of Ontario. The federal and provincial governments are contributing equally to this overall investment.

Lois Brown, Member of Parliament for Newmarket – Aurora, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and George Smitherman, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure and Member of Provincial Parliament for Toronto Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Jim Watson, Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, made the announcement today.

“This funding will improve the quality of life for residents by upgrading their homes and keeping them affordable,” said MP Brown. “These investments also benefit our communities by creating jobs and supporting the local economy.”

“These repairs are another step towards improving social housing in Toronto,” said MPP Smitherman. “This new funding will help ensure that people living in social housing have a safe and reliable place to live. Ontarians deserve nothing less.”

“This is very good news for the City of Toronto and is in keeping with our efforts to create a city that is liveable and prosperous for all residents,” said Toronto Mayor David Miller. “Through Council’s Housing Opportunities Toronto Action Plan, we will continue to work with Provincial and Federal partners in order to continue to upgrade and improve housing in the city.”

Ontario is moving quickly to invest a total of $704 million to repair eligible social housing across the province. In an effort to get shovels in the ground quickly, projects must be committed by the end of the fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

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Posted in CMHC, Ontario, Quebec, Rental Market

Protecting Investments from Inflation

Comments: 0July 17th, 2009 by admin

Vince writes,

My problem is as follows: I am an immigrant who has been in Canada for 6-7yrs and have no RRSP room to speak of, and can only count on a small CPP. All my savings and investments are in a non-registered account.

How do I protect myself against inflation? Do I buy short term bonds (XSB), real return bonds, or do I stay with common shares?

My allocation if I include property is about 60/40 FI/Equities.

Inflation is certainly a hot topic for many investors since every pundit in the media has an opinion of where inflation will appear and to what degree of severity with hyperinflation being a term that’s been thrown around far too loosely as governments attempt to stimulate economies.

Any conservative investor, regardless of risk or investment style, needs to concern themselves with inflation in all market conditions because inflation affects the real value of your investments. If your investment portfolio returned 4% after costs last year and the inflation rate was 2% your real return for the portfolio was only 2%. What an investor wants to do is achieve returns in their portfolio that outpace inflation over the long-term and provide them with equal or greater purchasing power in the future.

Investing for inflation is really not much different than wanting a raise each year that matches your increases in the cost of living. Essentially your portfolio should be giving you a raise each year in your income to offset the increasing prices of goods and services you use.

To answer Vince’s answer directly it’s not whether he should invest in only short-term bonds, real return bonds or common shares but how much of each to hold over the long-term.

Short-term bonds provide decent inflation protection at the expense of a much lower yield than a longer yielding bonds because you’re not taking on the same interest rate risk. Real return bonds maintain your investment from inflation and you only need to buy a weighting large enough for your desired allocation. Common shares, specifically ones that pay dividends, offer an investor a few advantages in terms of protecting against inflation. Companies that own/operate inflation sensitive assets such as real estate, commodities and infrastructure tend to fare better in valuation terms than other companies. Some dividends stocks pay a dividend and increase that dividend on a yearly basis above the annual rate of inflation then have already achieved your desired goal if the dividend continues to be paid regardless of the effect on share prices. Because dividends, for Canadians, are eligible for the Dividend Tax Credit in a non-registered portfolio the taxation of dividends is less than that of gains from interest (bonds & GIC’s) or from capital gains.

http://www.nurseb911.com/2009/07/protecting-investments-from-inflation.html

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC canadian funding corp CEO

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Posted in Alberta, British Columbia, CMHC, Housing Market, Manitoba, Newfoundland, Ontario, Quebec, Rental Market, Uncategorized