Liberals release plan to 'solve the housing crisis,' branding it as a call to action
The federal Liberals have unveiled their plan to solve the housing crisis, building on recent announcements with new tax incentives, more than a billion dollars for homelessness and a country-wide effort to build more housing on public lands.
"Today we are releasing the most comprehensive and ambitious housing plan ever seen in Canada," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in Vaughan, Ont. on Friday.
"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."
The parliamentary budget officer released a report Thursday that estimates Canada would need to build 3.1 million homes by 2030 to close the housing gap.
The Liberals' which comes days ahead of the federal budget, is the minority government's latest effort to set the agenda on affordability as it loses significant ground to the Conservatives over cost-of-living issues.
Ottawa is also sending a message to provinces, territories and municipalities that they too will need to step up, dubbing the plan a "call to action."
"There's no way that one level of government is going to solve the national housing crisis on their own," said Housing Minister Sean Fraser in an interview.
"But if we work together ... and create incentives to encourage each other to actually adopt policies that will help us get us to where we need to be, I know that we can accomplish this extraordinarily important task."
The Liberals' plan promises to tackle the spectrum of housing affordability challenges Canadians face, from the the out-of-reach dream of homeownership to skyrocketing rental costs to homelessness.
While much of the plan was announced during the government's recent pre-budget tour or even prior to that, several new measures are laid out in the document, including expanded tax incentives for homebuilding.
The federal government intends to increase the capital cost allowance rate for apartments from four to 10 per cent, which will increase how much builders can write off from their taxes.
It's also extending the GST exemption on rentals to student residences built by public universities, colleges and school authorities.
The plan also earmarks more money to tackle homelessness as communities across the country struggle with encampments and limited shelter spaces.
The Liberal government is topping up the Reaching Homes program, a federal homelessness initiative, with an additional $1 billion over four years.
Another $250 million is allocated to help communities end encampments and transition people into housing. The federal government is asking provinces and territories to match that amount.
The Liberals are also pledging a "historic shift" in how the government uses public lands to build housing, which will involve making more land available for home construction and leasing land as opposed to selling it off.
And they want to restrict large corporate investors from purchasing existing single-family homes.
Other planks of the plan include training more skilled trades workers, easing foreign credential recognition and boosting productivity in the construction industry, measures that would presumably speed up the process of homebuilding.
The federal government also promises to help families lower their energy bills, including through by launching a new program that will support energy-efficient retrofits for low to median-income households.
The Liberal housing plan was applauded by the Canadian Home Builders' Association, which said the plan sets the stage for a "comprehensive approach" to addressing housing affordability.
Its implementation will, in part, be contingent 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.
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 critiques, arguing that Canadians just want their problems solved.
"When people come knock on the door of my constituency office and they have a problem, the last thing that they want to hear is that it's not my responsibility to help them," Fraser said.
"So from my point of view, 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."
As the Liberals aggressively sell their housing plan and the federal budget set to be released on Tuesday, whether it lands with Canadians will depend on whether they still have faith that the incumbent government can solve their problems.
The federal Conservatives, who have have maintained a double-digit lead in public opinion polls since the summer, appear to have successfully convinced a large contingent of voters that the Liberals only make cost-of-living issues worse.
Tories have largely dismissed the government's recent housing announcements and argued that pouring more money into "government bureaucracy" won't solve the housing crisis.
"Justin Trudeau's vanity announcements and billion-dollar photo ops don't change the fact that his strategy has doubled housing costs over the last eight years," said Conservative housing critic Scott Aitchison in a statement.
New Democrats reacted to the housing plan Friday with a similar attack. In a statement, housing critic Alexandre Boulerice said "Canadians can't trust the Liberals to fix the problem they created."
Fraser acknowledged that Conservatives have succeeded at capturing Canadians' attention on housing, but he said their solutions fall short of what's needed.
"I think it's dangerous when politicians seek to prey on the very real anxieties of people without doing anything to help them. It communicates to me that it's motivated more by their appetite to seize political power than it is to actually help people who are struggling," Fraser said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has argued that government should get out of the way and let developers build more homes.
His proposed housing plan centres heavily on requiring cities to increase home building by 15 per cent each year to receive their usual infrastructure spending, or see their funding withheld. Those who build more than the target would be eligible for "bonuses."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2024.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½
New Federal firearm buyback program has cost $67M, still not collecting guns after 4 years
The federal firearm buyback program has cost taxpayers nearly $67.2 million since it was announced in 2020, but it still hasn't collected a single gun.
No, these viral purple apples don't exist in Saskatchewan
If something looks too good to be true, it might be. That's the message from Saskatchewan horticulturists after customers have come into their stores hoping to buy purple apple trees this month.
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has lost 205 firearms since 2020, including machine-guns
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has lost 205 firearms since 2020, including more than 120 handguns and at least five fully automatic weapons like machine-guns.
Influencer couple denies leaving kids alone on cruise
For most people, dinner on a cruise ship is a time to relax. But when influencer couple Abby and Matt Howard decided to kick back with a dinner à deux, they ended up kicking up a storm.
PM Trudeau names Anita Anand transport minister after Pablo Rodriguez quits cabinet
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tapped Treasury Board President Anita Anand to take on additional duties as Canada's minister of transport on Thursday.
B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.
Tensions flare between Poilievre and Singh in the House after NDP says it will back Trudeau Liberals
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh got into a heated exchange in the House of Commons on Thursday, just minutes after Singh announced his party would not be supporting the Conservatives' first non-confidence motion against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.
Canadian women among those who allege Harrods boss sexually abused them
CTV News has learned there are multiple Canadian women alleging they were victims of sexual abuse at the hands of the late Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed.
Local Spotlight
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.
David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.
Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.
A daytrip to the backcountry turned into a frightening experience for a Vancouver couple this weekend.