New citizens’ group forms in response to affordable-housing crisis in Stratford

The Stratford Affordable Housing Alliance, a recently formed citizens’ group, is quickly gaining public support as it works to push city council to develop a plan to help build housing in the city that’s affordable and feasible.

In collaboration with the Local Community Food Centre, the group began hosting a series of community consultations on housing, the first of which was held at the end of July and resulted in a brainstormed list of issues and proposed solutions about the city’s housing shortage.

“There were a number of folks who had been delegating to council regarding issues around affordable housing and housing in Stratford, and we didn’t feel like we were getting heard. … Nothing came of it, and it was really hard to get a written response or any kind of formal response from council and the city. So we thought instead of each of us individually going and speaking, we need to present as a group our concerns and the solutions we don’t see included in a plan. … Social services does have housing for a small segment of folks that are finding it impossible to get homes that are affordable … by the federal definition of up to 30 per cent of income, but that’s just a small piece of it,” said Nicole Andre , one of the group’s founding members.

Andre said there are many in the city who are unable to find housing at that 30 per cent income level and many more who can’t afford to spend 30 per cent of their earnings on housing on top of the rising costs of living, going to school and saving for retirement.

Andre also pointed to the city’s near-complete Britannia Street Affordable Housing project as an example of affordable housing that simply isn’t affordable for many. Rent at the Britannia Street apartment buildings is offered at 80 per cent of market value – the city’s definition of affordable housing – but that market value and what people are earning, Andre said, really don’t line up.

“Before the Liberals passed the responsibility of (investing in and incentivizing) housing to the province in the ’90s, the federal government was the number one builder of homes,” said Jason Davis, another member of the affordable housing alliance. “Once it was passed to the province, (housing) was largely ignored for 30 years and now the province is trying to pass the responsibility on to the private market and municipalities.

“If we don’t address this issue at the municipal level, it won’t be addressed.”

At this point, the group is collecting signatures to petition Stratford council to work with its members to create and implement a proportionally mixed income affordable housing plan that uses community land trusts – non-profit corporations that hold land on behalf of a community to serve the needs of that community – to protect the costs of affordable and feasible homes from fluctuations in the housing market.

“Our hopes are that the municipality, in collaboration with programs at the federal and provincial levels, would (develop a plan) that would accommodate all income levels within Stratford. … We would be finding ways to develop or create housing for all those income tiers from those folks who are living at the tent encampment and only have Ontario Works (income) coming in all the way up to people and households making over $100,000 a year that still can’t find affordable homes. It would be a variety of approaches, but all falling under the community land trust model,” Andre said.

The Stratford Affordable Housing Alliance is hosting its next meeting at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on Sept. 28 at 5:30 pm The group is encouraging those who can come out and help it set goals for action. Those who can’t attend can learn more or get involved by visiting perthcountysustainability.ca/members/saha or emailing [email protected].

Earlier this year, and based on the results of a three-year project, the city and invest Stratford, Stratford’s economic development corporation, began work on a three-pronged approach to increasing the local supply of feasible housing through incentives for developers, a city-driven pilot housing project and a social media awareness campaign.

In 2021, the United Way Perth-Huron also announced the creation of the Community Renewal Companyan organization focused in part on supporting the development of affordable, feasible and supportive housing.

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