BARRIE: Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Minister responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), alongside MP Tony Van Bynen, Member of Parliament for Newmarket-Aurora, and Barry Ward, Deputy Mayor of the City of Barrie, have announced an almost $26 million insured loan to help construct a new residential building located at 233-245 Dunlop Street in Barrie.
The project, developed by MDM Developments, is an 8-storey residential building that will provide Barrie with 93 new units of much-needed affordable rental housing close to public transit, schools and services for families.
The project received funding through CMHC’s Rental Construction Financing initiative (RCFi), a National Housing Strategy program that supports rental housing construction projects to encourage a stable supply of rental housing for middle-class families in expensive housing markets.
Hussen said: “Every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. That’s why our government is taking action to increase the supply of rental housing through projects like the one we are announcing today in Barrie. This new affordable rental housing will provide families better access to jobs, services and the amenities they need. This is the National Housing Strategy at work.”
Tony Van Bynen said: “By providing financing for new housing builds like we have for 233-245 Dunlop Street West Apartments, our government is taking action to not only increase the supply of new rental developments, but to also provide housing options that are closer to jobs, services and amenities for middle-class families here in Barrie, the surrounding regions and across Canada.”
“We have reached a critical point in the lack of affordable housing units in Barrie. We need thousands of rental units to start bringing down the average rent in our City. Continuing to encourage the market to build purpose-built rental like this project at 233-245 Dunlop Street to the point where it actually starts to bring rents down is how we tackle this issue.
Today’s announcement is an important step towards addressing this housing affordability crisis. I would like to thank Minister Hussen and the Government of Canada for their support.”– Jeff Lehman, Mayor of the City of Barrie Doug Gray, MDM Developments, added: “MDM Developments is proud to be partnering with CMHC on this exciting project to bring much needed affordable rental homes to the City of Barrie. It’s going to be a great building, on a great site, in a great city!”
• Through the RCFi, the Government of Canada is encouraging the construction of more than 71,000 new rental housing units.