Albertans looking for affordable housing can now apply online

Online tool simplifies affordable housing criteria The province has announced a new online tool to help Albertans navigate affordable housing more seamlessly.

EDMONTON — The province has announced a new online tool it says will make it both easier and faster for Albertans to find affordable housing.

On Tuesday, Josephine Pon, the minister of seniors and housing, introduced the Find Housing tool to help guide potential applicants through the process of determining their eligibility for government-subsidized housing units.

“We continue to work towards a new vision for our affordable housing system,” Pon said in a press conference.

“Defining housing tools is one example of how we can deliver affordable housing.”

Pon said since the initial launch of the tool in June, more than 6,600 Albertans have already accessed it.

“This won’t happen over night,” Pon explained. “We will make careful changes over the next 10 years and throughout this transformation to make sure the most vulnerable won’t be left behind.”

Margot Hagarty, the executive director of the Leduc Regional Housing Foundation, said the best feature about the tool is it helps individuals find appropriate housing within the community of their choice.

“These are individuals who are trying to figure out, ‘Do I pay my car payment? Or do I pay my rent?’”

“We now have an essential source to connect with all the operators throughout the province,” she added.

Not only is the online tool a more streamlined process, Hagarty said it helps Albertans go through the process in a more “dignified manner, in a supportive way.”

However, the tool doesn't create more affordable housing, which 24,000 Albertans are waiting for, estimated NDP critic Lori Sigurdson.

“Instead, Albertans will simply find out there is still no housing available for them and they will continue to sit on the waitlist.”

Individuals in Alberta seeking affordable housing can access the tool online. For anyone who does not have access to the internet, Pon said they still have a paper-based option as well.