Municipal officials see opportunities of just over $20 million in federal cash directed to supporting housing in the city.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thunder Bay would be receiving the money through the Housing Accelerator Fund while touring the city Thursday.
Mayor Ken Boshcoff admits while it is less than the original $45 million originally lobbied for they will make the most of it.
“We’ll just show them that we’ll take this money, make it work and start addressing the problems, and when the feds and the province see we have solutions, then they’re going to give us some more.”
Boshcoff notes cash won’t be used to build houses directly but will be used indirectly to make home construction more accessible.
He adds while shovel ready projects will be prioritized, it will not end up being a first come first serve, as there are employment factors which Boshcoff says are a challenge.
“There are lots of applications there that are worthy, and we will always have even more to build on, so I’m quite excited by the whole concept.”
