MONTREAL

Canadian mayors call on parties to address growing lack of affordable housing

CTV Montreal Published Tuesday, October 6, 2015 7:50PM EDT Last Updated Wednesday, October 7, 2015 6:41PM EDT

Mayors from cities across Canada gathered in Montreal to talk about affordable housing.

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The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is calling on parties to address a growing lack of affordable housing in urban centres.

Mayors from some of Canada's largest cities gathered in Montreal Tuesday to make housing an election issue.

While the federation said only the NDP has given details on the housing issue in its platform, the Liberal party platform does contain such a section.

The federation said housing is only going to become more contentious as the population ages.

“Seniors are very dependent on social housing,” said Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. “Right now, one third of Canada's social housing is for seniors, and we're losing that stock and not investing enough as a country in social housing and we have a senior population that's doubling, so as a country we're facing a perfect storm with affordable housing.”

The group is asking for more federal funding and renovation programs for seniors.