Ottawa to build 100,000 new affordable units, recognize housing as 'fundamental right '

The federal government will outline the details of its highly anticipated national housing strategy on Wednesday, including how it wants to create up to 100,000 new affordable housing units across the country

Radio-Canada, CBC's French-language service, has learned that on top of those new units, Ottawa will target 300,000 existing units for renovation.

The plan will be implemented over 10 years, with some elements still to be announced in 2018.

The government is expected to unveil its housing strategy on Wednesday, National Housing Day, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Toronto and Families Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, the point person on this file, making an announcement in Vancouver, two cities with significant housing needs.

The prime minister is also expected to announce how his government will recognize housing as a fundamental right through legislation, sources confirmed.

Back in March, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights criticized Canada for its "persistent housing crisis" in a report that highlighted the absence of a national housing strategy.

In their last budget, the Liberals set aside $11 billion over a decade to improve access to affordable housing in Canada.

Newly released data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. found that 1.7 million households were in "core housing need" in 2016, meaning they spent more than one-third of their before-tax income on housing that may be substandard or doesn't meet their needs.

Outside of Vancouver, the cities with the highest rates of core housing need were in Ontario. In Toronto, close to one in five households was financially stretched — the highest rate in the country.