New Affordable Housing Coming to Leamington

Leamington, ON – To provide Canadians with increased access to affordable and sustainable housing, the Governments of Canada and Ontario announced nearly $3 million in funding through the Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative (COCHI) to build 18 new affordable housing units in the Municipality of Leamington.

Located at 310 Sherk Street, the Tiny Home Community Initiative consists of 50 mixed-income units at the existing The Bridge Youth Resource Centre site. COCHI funding supports 18 of these units, 12 of which are designed to be accessible. This project will provide affordable housing for youth, adults, seniors, low-income workers and individuals facing addiction challenges, offering critical access to supports and community services managed by The Centre. It is conveniently located within walking distance of public transportation, local shops, medical services, school, banks, parks and recreation centres.

The announcement was made by Matthew Rae, Parliamentary Assistant to the Honourable Rob Flack, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, alongside Trevor Jones, Member of Provincial Parliament for Chatham-Kent–Leamington, Hilda MacDonald, Mayor of the Municipality of Leamington and Warden of the County of Essex, Dana Paladino, Commissioner of Human and Health Services of the City of Windsor, and Krista Rempel, Executive Director of The Bridge Youth Resource Centre.

Solving Canada’s housing crisis requires immediate action to bring down costs. Central to this work, the Government of Canada has launched Build Canada Homes, which is helping increase the pace of affordable homebuilding. Build Canada Homes is also helping to fight homelessness by building transitional and supportive housing — working with provinces, territories, municipalities, and Indigenous communities. It is building deeply affordable and community housing for low-income households and partnering with private market developers to build affordable homes for the Canadian middle class. As part of the Government of Canada’s broader efforts to respond to the housing crisis, investments are being made across the housing continuum to meet the needs of communities across Canada.

• The National Housing Strategy (NHS) is a 10 year, $115+ billion plan to give more Canadians a place to call home. Progress on programs and initiatives are updated quarterly on the Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC) website. The Housing and Infrastructure Project Map shows affordable housing projects that have been developed.
  • As of March 2026, the federal government has committed $82.28 billion to support the creation of over 199,000 units and the repair of over 344,200 units. These measures prioritize those in greatest need, including seniors, Indigenous Peoples, people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, and women and children fleeing violence.
  • NHS is built on strong partnerships between the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, and continuous engagement with others, including municipalities, Indigenous governments and organizations, and the social and private housing sectors. This includes consultations with Canadians from all walks of life, and people with lived experience of housing need.
• The Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative (COCHI) is a funding initiative under the Canada-Ontario Bilateral Agreement. The funding helps repair, regenerate and expand community housing, as well as provide rental assistance to those living in social and affordable housing. It can also be used to support community housing providers whose original program arrangements are expiring.
• In March 2026, the Governments of Canada and Ontario signed the Canada-Ontario Partnership to Build in support of the shared goals of boosting housing supply, advancing key transit projects, and strengthening economic growth. Under this new partnership, the Governments of Canada and Ontario will cost-match a total of $8.8 billion over 10 years to support housing-enabling infrastructure projects in Ontario. The funding will be prioritized for municipalities that reduce and maintain reductions on development charges. This marks the federal government’s first partnership through the Build Communities Strong Fund.
• Funding provided for 310 Sherk Street is as follows:
  • $2,919,397 from the Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative.
  • $1,858,000 from the federal government through the Rapid Housing Initiative previously announced in March 2022