Improving the affordable housing system

Overview

The Alberta Housing Amendment Act (formerly Bill 78) lays the groundwork to improve and expand Alberta’s affordable housing system by enabling key initiatives under a newly developed 10-year affordable housing strategy, Stronger Foundations.

The amendments increase opportunities for new partnerships, improve governance and capacity across the housing sector, and create a more diverse system to meet the unique local needs of communities and low-income Albertans.

As of April 2021, more than 110,000 low-income Albertans live in affordable housing and more than 24,000 are on a waitlist. The last figure has doubled in the past decade and action is required now to address the growing demands for safe, affordable housing.

Changes reflect recommendations provided by the Affordable Housing Review Panel and are included as part of the Stronger Foundations strategy to ensure all Albertans have access to safe and stable housing, now and into the future. Taking action on affordable housing is a key part of Alberta’s Recovery Plan.

Key changes

The Alberta Housing Amendment Act provides the authority to implement changes outlined in the 10-year plan that will:

• promote new partnerships and ensure oversight
• attract investment into affordable housing
• improve governance and capacity of housing management bodies
• simplify administration

Next steps

The Alberta Housing Amendment Act came into force on April 20, 2022.

News

• New housing strategy helps 25,000 more households (November 1, 2021)