Housing Minister Sean Fraser has announced what he’s calling an ambitious strategy to tackle Canada’s housing crisis.
Fraser said Friday the strategy — Canada’s Housing Plan — will build more homes, make renting or buying a home easier and do more to support those who can’t afford a place to live.
This is the Trudeau government’s second national housing strategy. In 2017, it launched a 10-year housing plan aimed at building 100,000 affordable housing units and repairing 300,000 affordable housing units. Fraser said the new measures will supplement the 2017 plan.
At a news conference in Vaughan, Ont. on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government’s latest effort is the “most comprehensive and ambitious housing plan ever seen in Canada.”
WATCH | Liberals pledge to build 3.9M homes by 2031:
Liberals pledge to build 3.9M homes by 2031
10 hours ago
Duration 7:10
Power & Politics speaks to Housing Minister Sean Fraser as the Liberals lay out their full plan to address the housing crisis.
“It’s a plan to build housing, including for renters, on a scale not seen in generations. We’re talking about almost 3.9 million homes by 2031.”
Canada would need to build 3.1 million homes by 2030 to close the housing gap, according to a report by the parliamentary budget officer published Thursday.
Leasing public lands for affordable housing
Highlights of the new strategy include plans for the federal government to lease and build on underused public lands to make housing more available and affordable.
The strategy also promises a new mapping tool to track the inventory of public lands.
“Where the public interest demands maintaining ownership of public land, the federal government will maintain ownership but make land available through long-term leases to ensure that land can be used for housing,” Fraser said.
Details of the government’s plans for public lands will be unveiled in Budget 2024 on April 16.
The government’s latest strategy also includes a new Canada Secondary Suite Loan Program to give homeowners access to low-interest loans of up to $40,000 to allow them to add secondary suites to their homes.
WATCH | Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks about new housing solutions:
Liberals release plan to build nearly 4M homes
6 hours ago
Duration 2:05
The Liberal government released its strategy to build 3.9 million homes in the next seven years, dubbed the Canadian Housing Plan. It includes incentives for home builders, low-cost financing and opening up federal land for housing.
To prevent speculation and ensure that houses are being used as residences for Canadians, the government will be extending its ban on ownership of residential properties by foreign investors until Jan. 1, 2027.
The government intends to increase the capital cost allowance rate for apartments from four to 10 per cent, which will boost the amount builders can write off on their taxes.
It’s also extending the GST exemption on rentals to student residences built by public universities, colleges and school authorities. The measure will apply to new student residences that started construction on or after Sept. 14, 2023, and before 2031, so long as they are built before 2036.
Much of the plan has been released already
Several initiatives listed in Canada’s Housing Plan are projects the government has already announced, such as the elimination of income tax deductions for expenses incurred for short-term rentals that contravene provincial or municipal regulations.
The Canadian Home Builders’ Association welcomed the government’s plan Friday, particularly its extension of the mortgage amortization limit to 30 years for first-time home buyers.
The association said in a news release that attaching housing conditions to transit funding and seeking to change the National Building Code to speed up construction of housing units show the government “recognized that a comprehensive approach is needed to address Canada’s housing affordability crisis.”
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On April 4, Trudeau previewed some of the housing commitments in Budget 2024, saying $1.5 billion would go toward helping non-profit organizations acquire rental units and keep them affordable. That funding is part of the Co-operative Housing Development Program that will start this summer.
Another $15 billion will be allocated for the Apartment Construction Loan Program, bringing available funding to $55 billion. The program is meant to build 30,000 new rental apartments in big cities, towns and rural communities.
New Democrat critic for housing Alexandre Boulerice expressed frustration with the announcement, saying Trudeau “disappointed Canadians by delaying measures to keep housing affordable” during his eight years as government.
“They’re facing sky-high grocery prices and rent. They’re seeing rich CEOs get richer off their backs while they scrimp and save,” Boulerice said in a news release Friday. “People can’t seem to get ahead.”
Combined effort with provinces
The Liberals’ housing strategy depends in part on co-operation from provinces and territories, some of which have already pushed back on the federal government over what they argue is jurisdictional overreach.
In addition to setting aside $1 billion over four years for the Reaching Home program — a federal homelessness initiative — the government will allocate $250 million to help end encampments and transition people into housing. It is calling on provinces and territories to match that amount.
Quebec, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick were unhappy with Ottawa’s decision to make access to new infrastructure money contingent on a set of conditions, including legalizing fourplexes.
But Fraser pushed back on those criticisms, arguing that Canadians just want the problem solved.
“It was important that we do what we can to embrace the challenge and demonstrate to Canadians that even where there may be technical jurisdictional obstacles, that wasn’t going to give us a reason to do anything less than the very best that we can,” he said.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
