Photo by Adelle Loiselle.Photo by Adelle Loiselle.
Windsor

Aging Social Housing Faces Huge Capital Shortfall

Windsor City Council is upping its financial contribution to the Windsor-Essex Community Housing Corporation this year but might face a much bigger increase in the years to come.

The corporation will receive an increase of almost $735,000 in 2017 from the City of Windsor and plans to ask the County of Essex for an increase of $362,000. The combined $1.097-million enhancement will cover increases in its operating costs, but it doesn't touch a looming $81-million capital deficit calculated for the next decade.

Chief Operating Officer Kirk Whittal may not have come away from city council Monday night with that kind of cash, but he didn't expect to. He was happy he was able to relay the corporation's struggles to councillors, possibly laying the groundwork for a solution in the years to come.

"Could I use a million dollars right now? Absolutely. But that million dollars would not have corrected this $81-million," he says.

Initially, the corporation asked for a combined increase of $2.3-million from the city and county, but meetings with city officials resulted in a slimmer request. No capital funding and less for the operating costs.

Put simply, Whittal says the housing stock is ageing. It's almost 50 years old.

"Just like your own homes, you're always spending money to keep your house up," Whittal says. "It's kind of the same situation, except I have 5,000 homes."

The capital shortfall does not even include the demand for new stock. There are approximately 5,000 families on a waiting list that depending on the needs of the family can last longer than five years.

That may sound desperate, but Whittal says Windsor is in comparatively good shape compared to other cities in the province. For example, in Toronto, he says there are up to 70,000 families on a waiting list.

Whittal says they still have a one-time federal grant and unspent provincial dollars to spend on upkeep in the meantime, and he's hopeful the federal government will consider a new build program.

- With files from Maureen Revait

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