Canada offers help in 'Housing for All' project

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of housing for all by 2022 has found a strong ally in Canada, with the North American country on Wednesday offering its help with wooden multi-storey housing technology to help achieve that goal.

In his meeting with Union Urban Development Minister M.Venkaiah Naidu, Canadian Minister of International Trade Ed Fast elaborated on Canada's expertise in wood-based housing technology that enables multi-story construction, stating that India can consider that technology to meet its ambitious housing targets.

Fast also made detailed queries about the new initiatives in the urban sector, including the Smart Cities project, Housing for All project and infrastructure development in urban areas of the country. He sought to know the clear timelines for execution of these schemes and specific areas requiring technologies and investments.

Pointing out that three Canadian cities - Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary - figure among the top ten Smart cities of the world, Fast also stated that his country is keen to partner with India in an appropriate manner in building Smart Cities.

As a result of the meeting, Naidu directed the Secretaries of the Urban Development Housing Ministry and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry to examine Canada's offers.

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that he looks forward to visiting Canada at a mutually convenient date and added that he will be meeting Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the upcoming G-20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia.

India and Canada have longstanding bilateral relationship based on shared democratic values, pluralistic societies and strong people-to-people contacts. In recent years, both countries have been working to enhance bilateral cooperation in a number of areas of mutual importance. Several high level visits have taken place during recent years, including at the Prime Ministerial level.