Housing is both complex and very personal, and it is interconnected to both our growing population, and our greater economy. For years, Canada has been facing an extreme housing shortage, as need has outpaced our supply, leaving high demand cities such as Vancouver and Toronto with soaring prices.
Housing is a fundamental driver of economic stability and growth, influencing employment, consumer spending, wealth accumulation, and overall quality of life. Here's our plan to secure the housing market for younger generations, and allow for our older generations to age at home.
- De-silo the decision making processes as it relates to immigration and housing policy so that immigration targets consistently align with housing supply strategy. Systemic coordination between various organizations (IRCC, CMHC, and IC) is a must to ensure that demand never out-paces supply.
- Diversify municipal revenue sources so that municipalities aren’t reliant on property taxes that put small-scale, cooperative and social housing projects at a disadvantage and offer incentives to local governments that achieve housing development targets with the housing accelerator funds, reclaiming them where they fail to meet development requirements.
- Modification of the National Building Code to streamline approvals of modular homes and raise height restrictions on wood-frame multi-story structures using mass timber technology.
- Fully committed to the announced $1.5 billion in funding for the Co-op Housing Development Program as part of The Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) to build housing and to renovate and repair existing affordable and community housing.
- For seniors, I will expand the Home Accessibility Tax Credit (HATC) to cover more expenses, and make it fully refundable so lower-income seniors can benefit. Implement an Age-In-Place retrofit grant for home modifications that help seniors stay independent.
- For first-time home-buyers, raise the annual contribution limit on the Tax-Free First Home Savings Account in keeping with market inflation.