(Ottawa) The Trudeau government does not provide a limit on the price of new rents in its bill to abolish the GST on the construction of rental housing. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled her bill on Thursday.
A senior official from the Ministry of Finance confirmed in a briefing that the legislative text does not provide criteria for defining what constitutes affordable housing.
Apartments built for long-term rental will be eligible for a full goods and service sales tax rebate, but it is unclear whether this rebate will subsequently be passed on to tenants.
Bill C-56 increases this reimbursement from 36% to 100% for buildings whose construction began on September 14 or no later than December 31, 2030. The cost of this measure will reach $4.6 billion over six years. , according to estimates from the Ministry of Finance. Forecasts do not include the final year of the program.
The government is also taking the opportunity to give more teeth to the Competition Bureau.
More details to come.