The mayor of London says the goal for the city must be to eradicate chronic homelessness within five years.
Ed Holder laid out the bold challenge is his annual State of the City address on Tuesday morning. The speech, which is normally held at RBC Place London, was delivered online this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as in past years, anyone wanting to watch the speech had to pay an admission fee to the London Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the event each year.
In his speech, Holder said reaching the goal of having no chronic homelessness in the city would require 3,000 new affordable housing units. He admitted, though, it will not be easy to reach the target.
"Right now, we’re averaging about 150 new units each year. If that remains our pace, it would take us 20 years to achieve. That’s unacceptable," he said. "What if we cut it in half - and instead of 20, we did it in 10 years? What if we could do it even faster? Having discussed this with our Building and Development Community, our City Staff, our Provincial and Federal governments, my challenge to us all is to achieve this in five years."
Holder extended the challenge to builders and developers in the private sector, saying they are needed to make investments in affordable housing.
On a day that the London region moved out of lockdown and into the red zone of Ontario's COVID-19 Response Framework, Holder touted the performance of the London economy during the pandemic. He cited seven straight months of job growth, a time in which roughly 33,000 jobs were added. He also tipped his cap to health workers on the front lines for the work they have done and spoke of the hope that things are getting and will continue to get better.
"This hope comes in many forms, however. It comes, first and foremost, from our health-care heroes, our essential service workers, our London Police, London Firefighters and Paramedic Services," he said. "Those who keep showing up, day after day, working extremely long hours, missing their family members, and making significant sacrifices all while under immense stress and scrutiny. You are not only frontline workers, you remain our last line of defence. You have held the line, against all odds and for that, our entire City offers you its deepest gratitude, and will remain forever in your debt."
The 2021 State of the City Address is Holder's third since becoming mayor. The full speech can be read by clicking here.
