The federal government needs to issue another $500 benefit payment for low-income families struggling to keep a roof over their heads, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Thursday. [...]
He said the NDP have a long list of policies they want the government to implement, but chief among them is a second top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit targeting low-income Canadians who spend more than a third of their income on rent.
For many low-income Canadians, I'm sure they will welcome whatever assistance they can get. To which, it is good to remember that for them these initiatives will make some difference.
I suppose the primary complaint is that this is a band-aid solution that probably aggravates the underlying problems to rental costs (at least to some small extent). The benefit is means tested, so it doesn't affect the entire housing and rental market, thus I don't suspect that all landlords are licking their lips over an extra $500 to extract.
That all said, better rent control laws would go a lot further than another benefit. Unfortunately (for the federal NDP), that ball is in provincial jurisdiction. To which, if you are a renter, things are looking bleak as rental costs will probably inflate faster than housing costs at this time. Something needs to be done on that front, lest we want more tent cities and people living out of their vehicles.