Housing is the cornerstone of healthy neighbourhoods and individual well-being. Through its Affordable Housing Action Plan, the City of Saint John is being proactive to address the affordable housing crunch to ensure a strong, vibrant and growing community. The City has developed a comprehensive and targeted five-year plan to foster better housing outcomes for the community.
Like communities across North America, Saint John needs to address challenges around affordable housing.
Although housing is not a legislative responsibility of the municipality, Council has recognized that the City must take action to help foster a more affordable housing environment.
With input of community stakeholders and the public, the plan leaves no rock unturned. It identifies nearly 40 proposed actions, including:
• Improve coordination across governments and sectors.
• Explore incentives for non-market housing initiatives.
• Make sure existing policies and by-laws support housing needs.
• Investigate long term solutions to deliver housing more efficiently through community partners and the municipality.
The Saint John Affordable Housing Action Plan was adopted by Common Council in October 2022.
Development of the Plan
Development of the action plan was a two-year collaborative project between non-profit affordable housing partners, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Government of New Brunswick, and the City of Saint John. The plan identifies the actions needed to guide the community’s response to maintain and create safe, suitable, and affordable housing options for all Saint John’s residents.
The Affordable Housing Action Plan was based on a housing needs assessment conducted by SHS Consulting. The plan will address any gaps in the Saint John housing continuum related to supply and affordability. The strategic directions, policies, and actions in the implementation framework are expected to focus on the transitional and supportive housing, non-market rental housing, and low-end market rental components of the housing continuum, targeted to the priority groups in need.