UCP government fails Albertans on affordable housing

Edmonton — On Tuesday, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts met with the Auditor General and department officials to review the state of government-owned affordable housing and assess progress made since the release of the Auditor General’s report: Processes to Assess and Manage the Condition of Affordable Housing Performance Audit. 

“Despite the report being released over a year ago, we found in yesterday’s meeting that not a single recommendation from the Auditor General’s 2024 report has been fully implemented,” said Marlin Schmidt, Member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. “We also learned that the government has allowed a massive backlog of maintenance to grow and continues to fall behind on building the affordable housing Alberta needs.” 

During the committee meeting, it was revealed that deferred maintenance has ballooned to more than $1 billion, adding a hidden deficit to the province’s books. 

“Alberta’s affordable housing system is now burdened with well over $1 billion in deferred maintenance,” said Schmidt. “This is a deficit that will cost all Albertans — not to mention those currently living in deteriorating conditions while they wait for basic repairs.” 

The UCP government’s deferred maintenance is leaving thousands of Albertans in government-owned affordable housing to deal with mold, leaks, broken elevators, and unsafe conditions.  

“We’ve learned that this government has only managed to address 23 per cent of the maintenance requests submitted this past budget year,” said Schmidt. “Albertans shouldn’t have to wait indefinitely while their homes fall apart around them.” 

The UCP isn’t just behind on maintenance; their plans for new builds are failing to keep pace with population growth and the urgent need for affordable housing. Despite a Deloitte report projecting Alberta will need 43,800 community housing units by 2030, the UCP government has set a target of just 13,000 new units by 2031. Calgary’s need alone is nearly double what the province plans to build over the next six years. 

Alberta’s New Democrats are calling for immediate action on the Auditor General report and a real plan to fix the housing crisis. 

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