CANMORE – Canmore's housing corporation is offering its renters relief this April in an effort to help those financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Canmore Community Housing Corporation (CCHC) operates home-ownership and rental perpetually affordable housing portfolios. In Canmore, it has three rental buildings with a total of 123 units of rental housing available.
Managing director Dougal Forteath said that given the current economic circumstances due to the COVID-10 response, CCHC has informed its tenants that rental payments have been reduced by 25 per cent across the board.
"I think like everyone, we understand the recent events specifically related to COVID-19 has had a drastic effect on the majority of people in the Bow Valley," Forteath said.
While Premier Jason Kenney announced last Friday (March 27) protections would be put in place for renters in Alberta last Friday, the week before CCHC had informed its renters that it would not evict tenants in April as a result of non or reduced payment of rent on the first of the month.
Forteath said both initiatives were aimed at all clients because the current global public health crisis is having an economic effect on all households. He said it also provides residents of CCHC's rental properties with the ability to make it through the short-term without losing their home.
"We worked with our parnters at Bow Valley Credit Union and Peka property management and we settled on a 25 per cent reduction of all rents across the board, regardless of tenant situations," Forteath said.
"We do not know the exact situation of all our tenants, we just know as a generalization many people in the Bow Valley have had a really significant change to their employment situation."
While federal and provincial financial assistance programs have been announced over the past two weeks, it will take time to actually put money into people's bank accounts.
Forteath said a rent reduction in April will help CCHC renters struggling financially in the meantime.
If needed, he said the rent reduction could be extended into May and possibly June.
"The situaiton is fluid for all of us," he said. "We want to make sure we are on top of it."
CCHC's rental inventory includes 60 units of PAH rental in the Hector on Palliser Lane, 48 units at McArthur Place and 15 units at Mountain Haven – both of which are located on Dyrgas Lane.
