Calgary took another step forward in both reconciliation and its Home is Here strategy with a new Indigenous-focused program to fund potentially hundreds of units.
Maa’too’maa’taapii Aoko’iyii’piaya, which means ‘Indigenous First Nation Housing’ in Blackfoot, is a $30 million funding program that was announced Aug. 19 during a media conference at the Calgary Municipal Building.
It will support the planning, building and construction funding for between 150 and 350 new housing units, which will be grounded in the principle of “for Indigenous, by Indigenous.”
Samantha Efthimiou, team lead for Indigenous Housing with the City of Calgary, said that the announcement was the start of a new beginning for housing programs in the city.
“We are used to having programs created for us, and this Indigenous housing program is created with us and in line with the housing strategy, but more importantly, in line with our community, with our elders, with their guidance, through recommendations, to build this,” she said.
Indigenous Calgarians make up three per cent of the population but represent more than 41 per cent of the homeless population, according to the most recent data. According to the City of Calgary, more than 3,800 Indigenous households are currently in housing need.
Further, more than 70 per cent of Indigenous households in housing needs in Calgary have incomes of less than $20,000 annually. That means they need rent of $500 or less to be affordable.
The program has two streams: One that provides funding support for engagement and planning—up to $150,000—and the other is for up to 40 per cent of eligible capital costs for Indigenous-led, non-market housing developments in Calgary.
“For generations, our People have been denied access to housing that is affordable and culturally safe. Too often, decisions were made for us, not with us. This program changes that story,” said Elder Jackie Bromley, who was a part of the Elder Advisory Committee.
“Indigenous people will lead this work with the city to house our Indigenous people. That is reconciliation in action.”
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The City will begin to review applications starting Aug. 25, ensuring that successful applicants are committed to building culturally sensitive housing for Indigenous Calgarians.
Efthimiou said that means a place they can smudge without being judged, and where there’s room for communion together and to conduct naming ceremonies without questions being asked.
“I am honoured to walk alongside with our elders, our leaders and our community in bringing this program to life,” she said.
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that it was an amazing step in the City’s collective journey of reconciliation.
“This work is reconciliation in practice. It’s equity in action, and it’s an investment in the future that we all must build together, because when every Calgarian has a safe place to call home, our city is stronger, it is more fair and it is much more resilient,” she said.
Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott, who was an advocate of Calgary’s Home is Here strategy, said that this is an example of taking one of the bullet points in the plan and putting it into action.
He said that too often, people looked at the grand statement they made with the housing strategy and forgot about the consistent work it would take to achieve the outcomes.
“This is the work that people stop looking at,” he told LWC.
“We love the housing strategy. We love to talk about the housing strategy, but it never stopped there, and it won’t stop after this. It keeps going. The work has to keep continuing.”
More information on the program and applications can be found here.
