"Building Together" Prince Edward Island Housing Strategy 2024-2029

A house is much more than four walls and a roof. It is a source of security, dignity, and identity for many individuals. By prioritizing housing, we prioritize the health of all Islanders and the social and economic well-being of our communities. 

This Housing Strategy -- Building Together -- will guide the provincial vision for housing over the next five years. Priorities focus on acceleration to facilitate the growth of housing supply, affordability to provide more options for low- and medium-income Islanders, and vulnerability to support those who are most in need. 

This five-year housing strategy identifies priorities that require collaboration across government and with all stakeholders.

Our Vision

All Islanders have access to adequate, affordable, and suitable housing.

Guiding Principles

1. Compassion: We empower and act with empathy keeping the needs of Islanders in mind.
2. Collaboration: We work together -- it takes all of us to meet the housing needs of Islanders.
3. Information: We strive to make decisions based on engagement, information and housing needs.
4. Adaptability: We adjust and evolve by monitoring and evaluating the environment and initiatives. 
5. Sustainability: We include a sustainability lens in our decision-making. 

Priority Actions

Acceleration

Our goal is to accelerate housing supply to support the anticipated population growth and stimulate a strong and vibrant housing market.

Our targets:

• Growing housing starts to new levels towards the required average annual 2,000 units.
• Achieve and maintain a healthy market vacancy rate of 2 to 4 per cent.

 Priority Actions

1. Provide incentives and financial supports to encourage private sector and non-profit developments that increase the rental supply with a focus on higher-density projects.
2. Review and modernize regulations to support housing supply increases and a variety of housing types and densities.
3. Focus on and invest in strategic workforce and immigration strategies towards retaining and attracting key skills to PEI in areas that place pressure on housing development. 
4. Work with municipalities to help build more homes, faster.
5. Focus on building permit strategies that streamline the process of building homes faster. 
6. Collaborate to grow modular construction in PEI to facilitate innovative approaches and housing solutions. 
7. Partner to enhance the suitability and access of PEI's housing supply with tiny and small home options.
8. Support the construction industry with driving innovation to establish and grow capacity for new housing solutions in PEI.
9. Encourage and support innovative community designs to support a mix of housing.

Affordability 

Our goal is to facilitate adequate, suitable, and affordable housing options and pathways for all Islanders to have a home. 

Our targets:

• Explore opportunities to increase the supply of permanently affordable rental housing through acquisitions and new constructions.
• Prioritize the most in need on the PEI Social Housing Registry while working to eliminate the registry.
• Reduce the number of Islanders with a core housing need, spending more than 30% of their before-tax household income on housing.
• Provide support to first-time home buyers.
• Increase the number of participants and funds invested to help keep people in their homes.

Priority Actions

1. Invest in more government-owned social housing units to support people in core housing need.
2. Ensure investments in ongoing and longer-term capital maintenance and efficiencies of government-owned social housing.
3. Encourage and facilitate access to affordable housing units for people with low income through government development and partnerships with non-profit organizations.
4. Support affordable housing development with the use of available government-owned property.
5. Help Islanders reach their goal of home ownership.
6. Provide support to help more people stay in their home and community.

Vulnerability

Our goal is to support those who need access to appropriate housing and supports

Our targets:

• Work to end chronic homelessness.
• Increase the availability of supportive housing units. 

Priority Actions

1. Address the critical gap in supportive housing in PEI to help Islanders most in need.
2. Build a collaborative model of intervention for PEI's most vulnerable population who are unhoused, at risk of being unhoused, or inappropriately housed, to interrupt the cycle of poverty and homelessness. 
3. Actively partner in collaborative efforts to prevent and reduce homelessness.
4. Collaborate with community partners to strengthen and streamline access to resources for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. 
5. Recognize and grow the network of community partners.