CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - Green MLA Hannah Bell has asked the province to put its population action plan on hold until it figures out how to solve the housing crisis in light of the city’s record-low vacancy rate.
Bell pointed to numbers released Wednesday by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) which show the rental vacancy rate in Charlottetown has dropped to 0.2 per cent.
Bell said that number, down from last year’s 0.9 per cent, gives Charlottetown the “dubious honour” of having the lowest vacancy rate of any major municipality in the country.
“You know it’s bad when you make Vancouver and Toronto look like healthy rental markets,” said Bell.
With P.E.I.’s recent economic growth hinging on “quick and explosive” immigration, Bell also pointed to the province’s population action plan’s hopes to grow the population 4.4 per cent higher than current levels by 2022.
“On one hand, government is actively exacerbating the housing crisis with its population action plan. On the other hand, government is trying to solve the crisis with its housing action plan,” said Bell. “In other words, government is trying to solve a problem of its own making.”
Workforce Minister Sonny Gallant said the housing issue cannot be fixed up overnight while also talking up the province’s job growth over the past two years.
“Everything is booming on P.E.I. We’re working to fix (housing) across government and we’ll continue to do that,” said Gallant.
Premier Wade MacLauchlan said it was “most regrettable” that Bell would blame the population action plan for the housing crisis and also spoke highly on the province’s new jobs.
“That’s where the demand is coming from. It’s from prosperity, it’s from an economy that’s flourishing and we should all be proud of that,” said MacLauchlan.
The vacancy rate announced Wednesday is the lowest ever recorded in Charlottetown by the CMHC and confirms the city is facing a severe shortage of rental properties.
Overall, the vacancy rate in P.E.I. also dropped from 1.2 per cent to 0.3 per cent between 2017 and 2018. The vacancy rate in Summerside dropped from 2.5 per cent in 2017 to 0.9 per cent as of October 2018.
The CMHC report shows that rental prices are also rising. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment rose from $733 in 2017 to $755 in 2018, while rent for a two-bedroom apartment rose from $901 to $921. The national average price for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,025.
The report attributes the drop in vacancy rates to an influx of immigrants and seniors to the capital region over the last few years. P.E.I. has seen an increase in immigrants through the Provincial Nominee Program, as well as a dramatic increase in international students attending both UPEI and Holland College.
Construction of rental apartments has increased this year, but the rate of construction has not kept up with the population growth. Housing construction has remained focused on single, semi-detached or row dwellings. To date, 309 of these dwellings have been completed in 2018, compared to 219 at the same time in 2017. By comparison, 153 rental units have been completed this year, compared to 68 at the same time in 2017.
