Liberal government to announce ‘renewed’ housing plan in 2024

Housing Minister Sean Fraser says that a renewed housing plan from the federal government can be expected in 2024 that will lay out how it will tackle the housing crisis.

“We’re working to develop a plan that will pull together the measures we’ve announced and the next measures we will announce into a single place for Canadians to see the full renewed approach,” Fraser said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

The plan would expand on recently announced measures by the Liberals, including the elimination of GST charges on rental developments, increasing the amount of low-cost financing available to developers and launching consultations on a catalogue of pre-approved home blueprints to speed up the approval of projects.

Fraser has been travelling the country to sign agreements with municipalities as part of the Housing Accelerator Fund, a program that provides federal funding in exchange for changes to bylaws and regulations that would boost home construction.

The minister says the upcoming plan will unveil measures to alleviate homebuilding cost pressures and outline an industrial strategy to help boost productivity.

The Liberal’s sharp focus on housing comes as the current government looks to regain favour with Canadians on the issue of affordability.

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Housing affordability has become a key point in federal politics as the Conservatives take fire at the Liberals over what they say are skyrocketing rents and mortgage payments.

The party led by Pierre Pollievere is proposing that Canada’s largest cities be required to increase homebuilding by 15 per cent each year or face financial penalties, which would include the withholding of financial funding.

Simultaneously, the CPC says it will reward cities that do increase homebuilding with a “building bonus.”

The Conservatives say that they would additionally mandate that cities pre-approved building permits on available land near transit stations to qualify for federal funds.

The New Democrats are supporting the minority government on key House of Commons votes in exchange for movement on priorities outlined in a deal last year, including the housing accelerator fund.

The NDP are pushing for a massive boost in affordable housing and are taking credit for a one-time rental top-up the government provided this past fall and the removal of GST from new rental builds.

This report was created with files from The Canadian Press 

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