Jim Steele, CEO of the Windsor-Essex Community Housing Corporation, right, talks as Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, centre, and MP Adam Vaughan listen during a media event on Meadowbrook Lane in Windsor, April 23, 2019. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.Jim Steele, CEO of the Windsor-Essex Community Housing Corporation, right, talks as Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, centre, and MP Adam Vaughan listen during a media event on Meadowbrook Lane in Windsor, April 23, 2019. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.
Windsor

Community Housing corrects information in affordable housing video

The Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation fact-checking a video about the affordable housing crisis, which is making the rounds on social media.

In the video, a man can be heard speaking with a representative of the corporation. The woman is heard saying the waiting list has jumped from 2,200 last year to 6,000 in 2019. She said rents in the city have tripled and described the environment within the corporation as "hell."

The corporation confirmed the waiting list for affordable housing has increased to more than 5,500 individuals and families, but CEO Jim Steele said the increase has been over the past three years.

He also said one demographic accounts for much of the increase.

"We've noticed a big increase in the number of seniors that are applying," said Steele. "I can remember when the seniors' list was under 100, and we're currently for one-bedroom for seniors at 1,400 eligible."

He said he believes higher rents do account for much of the increase, among seniors and others, but said rents have not tripled.

Manager of Public Relations Kari Schofield said the cost of renting a one-bedroom apartment has gone from less than $700 a month five years ago to close to $1,000.

Schofield said other statements in the video are also misleading. The woman states affordable housing has been downloaded onto municipalities, and that the federal government still has to "get its act together."

Both Schofield and Steele said nothing could be further from the truth.

"I"ve been doing this job since 1982, and I've never seen such cooperation," said Steele.

They pointed to a new development planned for Meadowbrook Lane in east Windsor. When construction is complete in December 2020, it will add another 145 rental units to the city's market, 76 of which will specifically be affordable housing units.

Schofield said while affordable housing may have been an "orphaned issue" in the past, there has been a "tide of movement" in government to address homelessness and housing affordability.

Steele told BlackburnNews.com he and other community housing representatives met with Steve Clark, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, at the beginning of November.

"They want to add more units," he said. "We pointed out some things that were obstacles to us doing some development, and he clearly wanted to hear those obstacles. And, the federal government has its national housing strategy for which we are hugely thankful."

Windsor City Council also recently approved an application to repair and renew the corporation's entire stock. A ten-year plan to deal with homelessness is expected to come before councillors in the coming weeks.

Steele said the statements made by the employee were being treated internally.

NOTE: An earlier version of this story contained the video mentioned in the article.  However, the Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation has requested the video be removed to protect the identity of the employee.  BlackburnNews.com has agreed to its removal.

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