The provincial and federal governments are teaming up to fund the repair and renovation of dozens of social housing units in Calgary.

$18 million will go to repair units in more than 120 buildings owned or operated by 29 social housing providers in the city which have been falling into disrepair for years.

“Many buildings in Alberta are showing their age, many units are in such disrepair that they have closed because the funds have just not come so that they can be kept up so that people can live in them and that's why we're taking action,” said Lori Sigurdson, Alberta Housing Minister. “This investment will go toward roof repair and replacement, major renovations to the mechanical systems and safety system upgrades. The projects will be done to seniors, community and special needs housing.”

The announcement was made at Bridgeland Place which is owned by the City of Calgary and the Calgary Housing Company. It will get $648,000 of the money for suite renovations, replacing shut off valves, roof inspection and sidewalk replacement. Other buildings could use the money for things like elevators, plumbing, heating and ventilation.

Counselor Brian Pincott calls the funding a good start, but points out that the city has a list of renovation projects totalling $100 million that are needed just to maintain existing affordable housing units. He said the start of renovations is far overdue.

“Our properties, built a lot of the time in the 60s and 70s, have been sliding into disrepair and our notion of affordable housing has changed since these properties were first built,” he said. “A lot of times we put affordable housing in places where nobody else would want to live, next to a freeway, next to crappy industrial areas, and people were supposed to be thankful.”

The Calgary Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is happy with the news and has already been at work to improve the lives of people in affordable housing.

“$2.3 billion in investments for affordable housing of which this forms a part which we are very excited about. It also announced the creation of a national housing strategy which I have not seen in my whole lifetime, so this past summer, CMHC has been engaged in consulting with industry experts about what this would look like,” said Kelly Wagar, CMHC.

With close to 4,000 people in Calgary on the waiting list for affordable housing, stakeholders say this cash comes just in time, and they look forward to more in the future.