Summary
Alberta Social Housing Corporation (the Corporation) is accountable to the Minister of Seniors and Community Supports. Its primary purpose is to facilitate the provision of affordable housing to low-income families and individuals, seniors, and those with special needs. The Corporation and the Ministries of Sustainable Resource Development and Infrastructure and Transportation are the only owners of undeveloped land in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (the Municipality) (see Section 2 for background on the Corporation).
As one of the land owners, the Corporation has a key role to play in the Fort McMurray housing market. The city of Fort McMurray’s population has increased by approximately 70% since 1999. Housing prices in Fort McMurray have tripled from 1995 to 2004. Due to the construction of new oil sands projects, the population is projected to keep increasing (see Section 3 for background on the city of Fort McMurray).
Objective and Scope
We examined the Corporation’s systems for selling land in Fort McMurray and its land sales and grants from 1999 to the present. During these years, the Corporation sold nine parcels of land, and granted five parcels to the Municipality and the Municipality’s not-for-profit development corporation.
Conclusion
Our recommendations and findings are:
- The Corporation, working with other ministries and the Municipality, needs to develop a long-term plan for selling land in Fort McMurray (see Recommendation #1—page 21)
- The Corporation should improve its systems for selling land to ensure that its objectives are met (see Recommendation #2—page 26).