Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced $6 billion of funding to support further homebuilding.
A billion dollars of the pledge will go to cities that urgently require new infrastructure, while $5 billion will support provinces and territories with their long-term priorities.
Speaking in Halifax this morning, Trudeau said his announcement “is about fairness” and “making sure communities have the safe, quality housing they need to get ahead.”
He added: “We need more affordable homes, and we need the infrastructure to help build these homes. That’s why in Budget 2024, we’re building more infrastructure, building more homes and helping more Canadians find a place to call their own.”
It’s the latest announcement in the prime minister’s pre-budget tour of Canada.
On Monday, he announced a five-year $1 billion investment designed to provide meals for 400,000 more children in schools.
On Thursday last week, meanwhile, he announced a separate $1 billion designed to expand daycare, and on Wednesday he spoke of generational unfairness and launched the “Canadian Renters’ Bill of Rights.”
Today, speaking alongside his housing minister, Sean Fraser, he said the federal government will stump up cash only if recipients agree to certain conditions.
One condition is to adopt the Renters’ Bill of Rights, which would create a standard Canada-wide lease agreement.
Cities in receipt of funding would also have to eliminate all mandatory parking requirements for housing developments and permit high-density homebuilding within 800 metres of transit lines and post-secondary institutions.
In a press release accompanying the prime minister’s announcement, the theme of generational unfairness was once again at the fore.
It begins: “Everyone deserves to succeed. But today, for too many Canadians, especially Millennials and Gen Z, your hard work isn’t paying off like it did for previous generations.
“Your paycheque doesn’t go as far as costs go up, and saving enough seems harder and harder. It doesn’t have to be this way. Every generation should get a fair chance to get ahead.”
Millennials – those born between 1981 and 1996 – became the largest voting cohort in Canada earlier this year, supplanting the long-reigning Baby Boomer generation.
Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) are now the third-largest generation in the country, beating out Generation X (born 1966 to 1980).
Recent national polls have found that younger generations, once major supporters of the Trudeau Liberals, now prefer the Conservative Party under Pierre Poilievre.
An Ipsos poll late last month suggested that 34 per cent of 18-to-34s are planning to back the Tories at the next election, compared with 24 per cent favouring the Liberals.
Among people aged between 35 and 50, Tory support was 41 per cent versus 20 per cent for the Grits.
A separate poll released by Nanos today found that the cost of housing is a top-five priority for a large number of voters – ahead of the carbon tax, immigration, homelessness and federal finances.
Trudeau’s recent announcements on housing and childcare have been interpreted by many analysts as an attempt to win back younger voters ahead of the next federal election, which is set to be held on or before Oct. 20, 2025.
To receive some of the $5 billion from the funding announced today, provinces and territories must:
“Broadly adopt” four units as-of-right and allow more duplexes, triplexes, townhouses and other multi-unit homes
Freeze, for three years, any increases to development charges from April 2 (this applies only in municipalities with a population of over 300,000)
Adopt changes to the National Building Code to support “accessible, affordable, and climate-friendly housing options”
Require as-of-right construction for the government’s upcoming Housing Design Catalogue.
Implement measures from the Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights and Renters’ Bill of Rights.
Provinces will have until Jan. 1, 2025 to secure an agreement with the federal government. For territories, the deadline will be April 1.
The prime minister also announced a $400 million “top-up” of the Housing Accelerator Fund, which is designed to help municipalities fast-track home construction.
It has now received $4.4 billion in funding.
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