Federal government shares plan to build on federally-owned land

The federal government says it plans to lease and build on under-used federally-owned lands.

The government says the plan is part of what it calls an “ambitous housing strategy” and part of the 2024 federal budget tabled this week. 

The federal lands can include post offices, government buildings, or an armoury. 

An armoury in Nova Scotia is said to be on the list, bringing up questions about whether the armoury located on Hamilton’s James Street North could be used as well. 

“In this budget, we have pulled every lever and pressed every button to get more homes built faster across the country,” said Chrystia Freeland the federal Minister of Finance.

In Burlington Thursday morning Freeland was asked what lands the government plans to lease and build on to provide more affordable housing. 

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“It does include armouries across the country, it does include post offices across the country, we’re going to have more to unroll in that space very soon, but I am very interested in ideas you have on federal lands in your community that we can be unlocking to get more homes built faster.” 

Associate professor of political science, Peter Graefe, said this plan likely will not see the lands opened up immediately.

“Because these processes are long, multi-year process, you know, one has to start sometime, there has been some movement on this file in recent years, but an acceleration of it does increase the opportunity to have these lands used for different kinds of housing, in what could be prime locations across the country,” said professor Graefe. 

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Housing advocates in the city continue to raise awareness of the housing crisis and say the government’s strategy is a welcome idea. 

“ACORN is always open to have affordable housing, it’s what matters and if we can get rid of a few places that aren’t being used, I think we should,” said Kayla Leet from ACORN Hamilton.

“I’ve been asking for this because I really think the government, the federal government needs to oversee all this,” said housing advocate Angela Vos.

Vos has previously suggested the John Weir Foote Armoury could be opened as a shelter for the homeless population, specifically during the winter months. 

“This is going to be a long-term project, it’s not going to be tomorrow when these houses are built, so I think utilizing these facilities in between that can create that holistic environment,” said Vos. 

CHCH News attempted to ask Freeland about the possibility of the armoury being used as a shelter but they just pointed us back to Thursday’s news conference for any comments.