(Ottawa) Housing was announced as one of the main themes of the budget, and it is: the word appears 564 times. Despite the pre-budget stripping, new stones are being added to the edifice that the Liberals had started to build. A look back at the “old” ads and the tenant’s (owner’s?) overview of certain key measures.
A rain of billions
There are 23 programs in the budget, for investments totaling 8.5 billion over five years. Several of them require agreements with the provinces and territories, which suggests a “certain chaos” in the implementation of federal intentions, believes Robert Asselin, a former close advisor to former Finance Minister Bill Morneau. By 2031, the government hopes to make 3.87 million new homes available, including 250,000 on public land. We are focusing on a mix of low-rate loan programs and direct investments. The attention paid to the housing issue was welcomed by various groups, including the Association of Construction and Housing Professionals of Quebec (APCHQ).
Measures for young people and tenants
Here again, it’s a rehash, but for the record: Ottawa wants to help tenants who pay their rent on time to strengthen their credit rating – banks and other institutions will have to develop payment history tools –, create a Canadian charter tenants’ rights and put in place a series of measures to facilitate access to a first property. Among these are the increase in the ceiling of the Home Buyers’ Plan (RAP) from $35,000 to $60,000, and the authorization of a 30-year amortization period for property buyers newly built. “We have arrived at a pivotal moment for millennials and Generation Z,” argued Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in her budget speech.
Postal, military and federal office lands
Build housing on top of existing Canada Post branches. Shelter civilians on former National Defense grounds. Convert underutilized federal office buildings into housing. Canada Post properties have been identified across the country, 14 surplus military installations handed over for housing construction, and some 3 million square meters of office space to be converted into housing. The federal government, the main land owner in the country, is reorganizing its portfolio to encourage housing construction. We will have to see if we will see houses flourishing there from the catalog inspired by the post-war initiative, which Housing Minister Sean Fraser hopes to leaf through by the end of the year.
More accommodation in garages and basements
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The federal government wants to encourage the construction of accessory dwelling units in single-family homes.
Many municipalities have prepared the ground by modifying their zoning to facilitate the addition of accessory dwelling units to single-family homes, and the federal government wants to follow suit. In its budget, the government proposes to pay approximately $410 million over four years to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) with a view to creating a national loan program for the construction of housing in a sub- unused floor or garage. Owners would thus have access to $40,000 in low-interest loans. Planned takeoff: 2025-2026.
Federal tax on vacant land?
After imposing a tax on vacant or underused housing of 1%, especially for foreign owners, which came into force in 2022, the federal government is considering adding a tax on vacant land. Ottawa wants to reduce the risk that landowners hold land in reserve hoping to benefit from an increase in its value. “Vacant land should be used, ideally to build housing,” the budget reads. Consultations are due to launch later this year.
Asylum seekers: 1.1 billion
Quebec is demanding 1 billion for costs related to welcoming asylum seekers. Ottawa is proposing $1.1 billion over three years starting from 2024-2025, for the portion affecting housing. And this, “even if it is the responsibility of the provinces and municipalities to provide them with a safe place to stay,” we read in the Freeland budget. The money would extend the Interim Housing Assistance Program, and funding, for 2026-2027, “will be conditional on provincial and municipal investments in permanent transitional housing solutions for people seeking asylum.” , we specify in the financial year.
Itinerant camps
The housing crisis also means that municipalities are seeing more and more urban and suburban encampments spring up – a situation that Pierre Poilievre’s conservatives are exploiting to criticize the Liberals’ inaction. To tackle the problem, the 2024 budget proposes 1.04 billion over four years. In the shorter term, from 2024-2025, the federal government plans to extend 250 million, over two years, in order to “resolve the urgent problem of encampments and homelessness”. But be careful: to receive these amounts, the provinces and territories will have to match the stake.