It’s Time to Build: Mark Carney Will Supercharge Canada’s Housing Plan to Make Housing More Affordable
Canada faces an urgent housing crisis. We simply do not have enough homes. This is our time to build. Mark Carney will supercharge Canada’s housing plan to tackle the affordability crisis and catch up to the needs of our growing population. We will take aggressive action to ensure we can build enough homes for Canadians now.
We need a new, Team Canada approach that engages all levels of government with the urgency this moment demands. Should other jurisdictions adopt tax or regulatory measures that impede building the homes that Canadians need, a Mark Carney-led federal government will use all available tools to remove those barriers. We need strong leadership and a clear vision to confront the housing crisis head-on and build the strongest economy in the G7.
We will embark on a new era of sustained infrastructure investment that will determine Canada’s economic competitiveness and the quality of jobs for decades to come. There are many ways for governments to support building, and housing will be at the heart of Mark Carney’s economic plan.
To expand our housing supply, a government led by Mark Carney will:
- Double the pace of new housing construction over ten years. We have been building an average of roughly 227,000 homes per year over the past decade. We need to double this rate by improving the way we build homes, so that we can build 4 million homes over the next several years. We will catalyse enormous private investment to build new affordable homes for younger Canadians by aggressively unlocking private risk capital for new home construction.
- Boost innovation and productivity in housing construction to accelerate building speeds and lower building costs. We will also invest in new technologies that speed up completion times and improve quality. We will incentivize scaling in construction to build more houses much more quickly, including supporting the Canadian prefabricated and modular housing industry and deploying new building materials and novel construction methods.
- Grow the construction sector workforce. Accelerated home construction will require a corresponding investment in our skilled trade workforce. We will expand and accelerate training and apprenticeship programs for skilled trades so that we can build the homes Canadians need. We will seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a more competitive construction industry with great jobs in trades and manufacturing.
- Cut red tape; reduce fees, levies, and taxes to drive down the cost of building; and accelerate permitting approvals. We need more incentives for investment and growth, not fewer. We will leverage new federal investments with provinces, territories, and municipalities to lower fees–such as development charges–that unfairly increase housing costs and create barriers to building new homes. We will provide new federal infrastructure funding to offset lost revenues from development charge reductions. We will expand the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund beyond just water and wastewater systems to include other critical infrastructure for growing communities’ needs.
- Reduce housing bureaucracy, zoning restrictions, and design criteria prescribed by government staff. We can no longer tolerate restrictive, outdated zoning and permitting laws that block us from building more affordable places to live. We need more housing options in the places that make sense, including near transit. We will strengthen conditions and streamline federal programs so that provinces, territories, and municipalities can build more homes faster.
To improve housing affordability, a government led by Mark Carney will:
- Eliminate the GST for first-time homebuyers on homes under $1 million. We must ease the financial burden on young Canadians and help them catch up and enter the housing market. By reducing upfront costs, we will empower young families and individuals to invest in their futures and build stronger communities. We expect this will also have a dynamic effect of increasing supply.
- Address the housing needs—and advance the self-determination—of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We will work in partnership to address housing availability, safety, and affordability by advancing solutions that respond to local priorities across urban, rural, and northern communities, and support the extraordinary leadership and innovation already underway.
- Enhance energy efficiency in homes to lower operating costs for Canadians and support sustainability. We will strengthen support for innovations in housing construction, such as low-carbon concrete and mass timber, and Canada’s resource sector will lead these efforts.
To improve access to affordable housing, a government led by Mark Carney will:
- Remove barriers to building and acquiring affordable housing. We will support small and non-profit builders by expanding access to funding and low-interest loans delivered by CMHC to accelerate the creation and protection of affordable housing stock by building on the Rapid Housing and Rental Protection Fund programs.
- Double non-profit community housing, including co-op housing, to deliver permanently affordable homes that strengthen communities. We will scale these effective models by forging new partnerships across all orders of government, the private sector, and civil society. By rapidly expanding housing options for marginalized and vulnerable Canadians, we will deliver a Housing First approach to ensure that every individual has a safe, stable place to call home. This community-led approach will not only boost the supply of affordable homes but also foster inclusive, vibrant neighbourhoods where no one is left behind.
