Federal and Provincial Governments Partner With Habitat for Humanity in Duck Lake

DUCK LAKE, SASKATCHEWAN--(Marketwired - April 21, 2017) - The Government of Canada and the Government of Saskatchewan remain committed to making significant investments that will improve housing across the province and strengthen Canadian communities.

Today, the Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, on behalf of the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and Member of the Legislative Assembly for Batoche, Delbert Kirsch, on behalf of the Honourable Tina Beaudry-Mellor, Minister of Social Services and Minister responsible for Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, celebrated the opening of two Habitat for Humanity homes in the community of Duck Lake.

This investment will support Habitat for Humanity in making homes more affordable and will help improve the quality of life for families in Saskatchewan.

Quick facts:

• The first home, located at 405 6^th Street, is a four-bedroom raised bungalow approximately 1,000 square feet or 93 square meters with a developed basement. The Government of Canada, through Canada and Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC), along with the Government of Saskatchewan, through Saskatchewan Housing Corporation (SHC), jointly contributed close to $56,000 to build the home through the Investment in Affordable Housing (IAH) 2014-2019 Agreement and the subsequent 2016-2018 Social Infrastructure Fund (SIF) Allocation Increase.
  
  
• CORCAN (Correctional Service Canada), a special operating agency of Correctional Service Canada (CSC), participated in the build. CSC provides inmates of the Willow Cree Healing Lodge (WCHL) with trade skills necessary to build houses. Habitat provides construction materials.
  
  
• The second home, located at 200 2^nd Street West, received $65,000 in provincial funding through the SHC. The home is a three-bedroom bungalow approximately 1,200 square feet or 111 square meters without a basement. CORCAN, Habitat for Humanity and the Prairie Spirit School Division, partnered together to engage and train students in various construction trades through the renovation of this particular home.
  
  
• Since 2009, the Province has committed $7.85 million to Habitat for Humanity Saskatchewan chapters for low- to moderate-income families in 13 communities: Duck Lake, Fort Qu'Appelle, Humboldt, Lloydminster, Melfort, Moose Jaw, Nipawin, Battleford region, Prince Albert, Regina, Saskatoon, Weyburn and Yorkton. The addition of $1 million in funding through the SIF brings the total funding provided to Habitat chapters across the province to $8.85 million.
  
  
• Habitat for Humanity's innovative delivery model provides opportunities for families to stabilize their housing and to achieve their home ownership goals. Each partner family selected by Habitat for Humanity contributes 500 partnering hours in building their home or other Habitat homes. To learn more about Habitat for Humanity and their work across Saskatchewan, visit www.habitat.ca.

Quotes:

"Our Government is dedicated to working in partnership with organizations like Habitat to build the sort of safe, appropriate, affordable housing necessary for healthy, sustainable communities. The investments in these new homes will make a real difference in the lives of families locally, a place they can proudly call their own."

- Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

"We are pleased to work with two incredible partners, the Government of Canada and Habitat for Humanity, to support Saskatchewan families in greatest housing need. By working together, we are able to help more families achieve strength, stability and self-reliance beginning with a safe, stable and affordable home of their own. Our goal is to keep Saskatchewan strong and a quality home is a key foundation of that vision."

- Delbert Kirsch, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Batoche, on behalf of the Honourable Tina Beaudry-Mellor, Minister of Social Services and Minister Responsible for Saskatchewan Housing Corporation

"It is inspiring to see so many organizations and people coming together to make homeownership a reality for the two families we are housing today. Providing them with these homes will help them break the cycle of poverty. With the support we received through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, the Town of Duck Lake, Corrections Canada, Stobart Community School and all the private donors and contractors who contributed, we were able to build two quality homes that will serve the families for years to come."

- John van Leeuwen, Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity Prince Albert

Associated Links:

- CMHC has been helping Canadians meet their housing needs for more than 70 years. As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry. Prudent risk management, strong corporate governance and transparency are cornerstones of CMHC's operations. For more information, please call 1-800-668-2642 or visit www.cmhc.ca or follow CMHC on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

- In October 2012, the Government of Saskatchewan released the Saskatchewan Plan for Growth: Vision 2020 and Beyond, which sets out the Government's vision for a province of 1.2 million people by 2020. The Plan identifies principles, goals and actions to ensure Saskatchewan is capturing the opportunities and meeting the challenges of a growing province. Since 2007, the Government of Saskatchewan has invested over $727 million to develop or repair more than 15,300 housing units across our province.