Who would have thought that that the federal government would reach into the history books and resurrect an old solution to help resolve a current crisis?
The federal Housing Minister, Sean Fraser, recently announced the government is taking the nearly 80-year-old Wartime Housing scheme off the shelf and likely adding some modern day tweaks.
Between 1941 and 1947 a federal crown corporation called Wartime Housing Limited built something on the order of 40,000-plus wartime-style homes across Canada. These modest houses started out as rental units but the government subsequently encouraged the residents to purchase them. These homes were chosen from a catalogue of plans of pre-designed houses and built from federal government floor plans.
This former program was enacted as thousands of soldiers returned home from WWII over a short time period and created a housing crisis of grand proportions. These military personnel and others involved in the war effort wanted to marry, have a house and to start a family. And so, to solve that crisis these modest homes, many of them prefabricated, were built in as little as 36 hours and were kinder to the pocket book and the environment than current building techniques. Many of these houses were affectionately called “strawberry boxes,” as they resembled the shape of those fruit containers. Other designs were called “Victory Homes” and many of these houses are still occupied today. Reportedly, some of these homes in Owen Sound are selling on average within six days and in the range of $358,000 plus.
If implemented, this renewed version of the housing program could go a long way toward resolving some of Canada’s current housing crisis by providing more affordable housing for a very large segment of the population.
A large number of potential homeowners-in-waiting will be anxious to see how provincial and municipal governments react to the resurrection of this old solution to a housing crisis. It is certain that all levels of government need to come on board if such an initiative is to be successful.
