Alberta lacks information, maintenance plan for affordable housing stock, auditor general says

The report recommends the province compile that information and set up a maintenance plan to fix units according to need.

The Alberta government lacks information on the true state of its affordable housing stock and lacks standards and a plan for maintaining it, according to a new report from the province's auditor general.

The fall 2024 report, tabled in the legislature Monday, found the Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services no longer evaluates the urgency of a repair or an update after a previous ranking system was abandoned in 2019.

The report recommends the province compile that information and set up a maintenance plan to fix units according to need.

Patty Hayes, the assistant auditor general who examined the file, said putting off maintenance hurts the sustainability of the affordable housing program, as well as the health and safety of the people living in those units.

"If you've got leaking roofs, leaking windows, you can get mould. You can have poor heating and ventilation, especially in the wintertime," she said.