Canadian Mortgage News

January 2004 National News Archive

Sod Turning — 30 New Affordable Housing Units in Terrebonne

TERREBONNE, Québec, December 6, 2004 — Low- and moderate-income families and individuals will soon have more affordable housing options thanks to the construction of 30 new housing units at 477 Chartrand St., in Terrebonne.

Pablo Rodriguez, MP for Honoré-Mercier, on behalf of the Honourable Joe Fontana, Minister of Labour and Housing; Alain Paquet, MNA for Laval-des-Rapides, on behalf of Jean-Marc Fournier, Minister of Municipal Affairs, Sports and Recreation; Jean-Marc Robitaille, Mayor of Terrebonne; and Marie-Chantale Lamarche, President of Terrebonne's Family commission, social affairs, community action and status of women, on behalf of Micheline Mathieu, Chairman of the board of the Terrebonne Municipal Housing Bureau, visited the job site this morning.

This new construction, estimated at $3.3 million, will be developed thanks to the participation of public, private and community partners. The financial contributions for the development of this project, totalling $2,231,040, will be provided under the Affordable Housing Agreement signed between Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Société d'habitation du Québec (SHQ).

CMHC is providing $855,232 in funding, while the SHQ is contributing a sum of $825,808 to the housing project. This project is also benefiting from a contribution from the municipality of Terrebonne in the amount of $550,000. The other costs are being assumed by the organization through a mortgage loan secured by the SHQ.

"The development of this project will allow 30 households from the Terrebonne area to live in a quality environment at an affordable cost," said Mr. Rodriguez. "Shelter is one of the foundations upon which healthy communities and individual dignity is built. We are pleased to work with the Government of Quebec, the municipality, and community sector representatives to provide more people with better housing in their community," he ended.

"This job site reflects the concern of the Government of Quebec for making every effort to ensure that more affordable housing units are made available rapidly with contributions from all the partners," pointed out Alain Paquet, MNA for Laval-des-Rapides. "With this new project, some thirty low- or moderate-income households in the Terrebonne area will be able to improve their housing conditions," he added.

The development of this project is part of the Government of Quebec's initiative to produce 16,000 social, community, and private housing units for low- and moderate-income households. This initiative is federally funded under the Affordable Housing Agreement.

Ministers Fontana and Fournier signed an agreement, in August 2004, concerning additional funding for the second phase of the Affordable Housing Program: Quebec became the first province to sign this agreement. This makes for a total contribution of $150 million to increase the availability of affordable housing in Quebec. The federal contribution is $75 million, with an equivalent amount being provided by the Government of Quebec and the municipalities participating in the program.

Sources:

Information:

Stéphane Gosselin
Press Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs,
Sports and Recreation
(418) 691-2050
(514) 873-2622

From left to right: Marie-Chantale Lamarche, President of the Commission on Family, Social Affairs, Community Action and the Status of Women; Alain Paquet, MNA for Laval-des-Rapides; Jean-Marc Robitaille, Mayor of Terrebonne; and Pablo Rodriguez, MP for Honoré-Mercier.

News source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)