Calgary is a leader on housing and the fight against homelessness. From the community’s RESOLVE initiative to the City’s 10-year plan to end homelessness, Calgary has shown the way on affordable housing. Inspired by regional initiatives such as these, we launched Canada’s first-ever National Housing Strategy. We also introduced legislation recognizing the right of Canadians to access adequate housing. And we tripled the federal government’s investment in homelessness prevention and reduction and are on track to reduce chronic homelessness by 50% by 2027. In response to the immediate challenges of COVID-19, we launched the Rapid Housing Initiative, which included a dedicated cities funding stream and which is investing $2.5 billion to create at least 9,200 new units of affordable housing across Canada.

In this election, the Liberal Plan for Housing includes a $4 billion for a new Housing Accelerator Fund which will grow the annual housing supply in the country’s largest cities every year, creating a target of 100,000 new middle class homes by 2024-25. This application-based fund will offer support to municipalities that: grow housing supply faster than their historical average; increase densification; speed-up approval times; tackle NIMBYism and establish inclusionary zoning bylaws; and encourage public transit-oriented development. This fund will support a wide range of eligible municipal investments, including red tape reduction efforts, and reward cities and communities that build more homes, faster.

At the core of all of these measures is a commitment to building housing systems that provide permanent housing solutions to Canadians. We support the City's housing aspirations. A re-elected Liberal Government will work with the City to make those aspirations a reality.

Learn more at https://liberal.ca/our-platform/.

We are committed to better public transit in Calgary. As an example, a re-elected Liberal government would remain committed to Calgary’s Green Line. We have already announced an investment of up to $1.53 billion in the largest infrastructure project in the city’s history. We know that the Green Line will reduce congestion and create up to 20,000 jobs. We will work to get the job done.

Since 2015, our Liberal government has already invested over $13 billion in more than 1,300 public transit projects across Canada, building more than 240 km of new public transit subway and light rail line. We also established permanent public transit funding of $3 billion per year for Canadian communities. This track record shows that a re-elected Liberal government can be trusted to partner with cities, like Calgary, who are prioritizing investments in public infrastructure.

Learn more at https://liberal.ca/our-platform/.

Since 2015, we’ve made major investment in mental health care. But we know there is more work to do. That is why a re-elected Liberal Government will:

• Establish a new federal transfer to provinces and territories - the Canada Mental Health Transfer - to assist jurisdictions to expand the delivery of high quality, accessible, and free mental health services. Building on the principles of universality and accessibility in the Canada Health Act, this transfer will help establish standards in each province and territory, so that Canadians are able to expect services that are timely, universal, and culturally competent. This will help each jurisdiction focus on and solve critical backlogs in service and provide help to those who need it, according to the unique needs in each region.
• Commit to permanent, ongoing funding for mental health services under the Canada Mental Health Transfer, with an initial investment of $4.5 billion over 5 years. Including the existing bilateral agreement on mental health services signed in 2017, this would bring federal support for mental health services to $2.5 billion per year by 2025-26. This is in addition to further investments we will make to support First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities with better access to trauma and mental health services.
• Introduce a new fund for student well-being to improve wait times and increase access to mental health care at colleges and universities. The fund will support the hiring of up to 1200 new mental health care counsellors, including those who can support the needs of BIPOC students, at post secondary institutions across Canada. We will invest $500 million over four years and dedicate 10% annually to support Indigenous-governed and operated postsecondary institutions.
• Undertake a comprehensive review of access to the Disability Tax Credit, CPP-Disability and other federal benefits and programs to ensure they are available to people experiencing mental health challenges.
• Include mental health as a specific element of occupational health and safety under the Canada Labour Code and require federally regulated employers to take preventative steps to address workplace stress and injury.
• Fully fund a national, three-digit mental health crisis and suicide prevention hotline.
• Work with partners to ensure timely access to perinatal mental health services.

Learn more at https://liberal.ca/our-platform/.