A few active Canadian Armed Forces service members are living out of their cars while stationed in Canada due to the high cost of living.
The revelation came during a recent Standing Committee on Veteran Affairs from military veteran Debbie Lowther, who sits as the Chair of Veterans Emergency Transition Service Canada (VETS Canada).
“I find this incredibly shocking, you’re telling me that active current members of our Canadian Armed Forces cannot afford the cost of living and are coming to you for help?” Conservative MP Blake Richards asked Lowther.
“That is correct,” Lowther replied, “And I can also tell you that we have active currently serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces living in cars. The housing crisis is such that over the past year we have seen three veterans who have been posted to areas where they cannot afford housing and they are living in their cars.”
“So yes that is in fact very real,” she added.
Canada’s housing crisis has consistently deteriorated since 2015. As of August, the average home price stands at 8.9 times the median household income, exacerbating the existing housing supply shortage.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released a report last week predicting even more rising interest rates, reaching approximately 6-7%, the timing of which couldn’t be worse for many homeowners.
The report also states that in the next two years, a staggering 45% of all outstanding mortgages will be up for renewal where the homeowners will experience “interest rate shock.”
Trudeau to maintain record high immigration for at least 2 more years
The Trudeau Liberals announced that despite the housing affordability crisis, they will continue smashing immigration records.
“Canada intends to maintain it’s targeting of welcoming 485,000 thousand new permanent residents in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025,” Immigration Minister Marc Miller said on November 1.
The Immigration Minister acknowledged that increased immigration impacts the pressure on affordable housing. But Miller said the issue “isn’t a linear equation between the numbers coming in and the actual housing needed.”
Immigration linked to housing crisis
In September, documents obtained by The Counter Signal reveal that Trudeau was informed by the Secretary of the Cabinet, Janice Charette, that his immigration policy was directly causing the country’s housing affordability crisis.
