The Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce is joining other organizations in speaking out against the cancellation of three affordable housing projects in the city.

The Yukon government announced last week it was cancelling three projects that were to receive funding from the Northern Housing Trust in Whitehorse. Two rural projects are slated to continue.

The government cited changes in the Whitehorse housing market and concerns put forward by the Yukon Realtors Association and the Yukon Residential Landlords Association.

While the realtors association supports the cancellation of the initiative, the landlord’s group has stated that although it had concerns and wanted some changes made, it didn’t want the projects entirely scrapped.

The Yukon Chamber of Commerce spoke out last week against the cancellation with the Whitehorse chamber now adding its voice as well.

“A significant number of Whitehorse residents in the work force who are within the lower income spectrum will continue to struggle each and every month to secure affordable rental housing for themselves and for their families,” said incoming Whitehorse chamber chair Josh Clark.

As chamber president Rick Karp pointed out in an interview this morning, the Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation has set its housing affordability threshold at 30 per cent of a household’s total income.

Rent has continued to climb over the last few years, leaving many spending more than that 30 per cent threshold.

With a large part of its membership being local retailers, Karp said his office continually gets calls from employers looking to bring staff into the city but are unable to find affordable housing.

While the realtors association has argued that a number of Yukoners have purchased condos in recent years and rented them out, adding to the number of rental units available in the city, Karp argued they don’t fit in the affordable market range.

“There’s a gap in affordable rental apartments,” he said, noting it has been many years since any new apartments were built in Whitehorse.

It’s a gap, said Karp, that needs to be filled.

He noted a number of the apartments he’s toured are showing their age and there are some with “appalling conditions” such as doors which can no longer be shut, issues with mould, appliances in need of replacement or fixing and so on.

“And yet, rent continues to climb,” he said, noting that in a number of cases tenants do everything they can to keep their units clean, but maintenance work is needed.

He acknowledged too that there are other cases where the landlords face issues with tenants who fail to look after their units as they should.

Like the landlords association, his group did have some concerns with the housing initiative as it was proposed, but didn’t see the need to scrap it, Karp said.

Rather, he added, some changes could have been made such as including some criteria for those who would be renting the new units.

The cancellation of the Whitehorse projects, he noted, means the loss of an entire building season and for the chamber “that’s disappointing.”

“There should have been construction started now,” Karp said.

Not only is it disappointing, but the situation also erodes the trust in the Yukon government’s processes, “which businesses require in order to continually invest in the territory and Yukoners rely on for social, economic and employment opportunities.”

As Clark stated: “We sincerely hope that a near-term solution can be found for the remaining $11.5 million in NHT (Northern Housing Trust) monies that were transferred to the Yukon government by the federal government in 2006 to build affordable housing units in the territory, including rental units.”

The chamber plans to continue calling for “increased mobility within the city’s housing market, which is key to a healthy and sustainable community.”