After 8 years of the Trudeau Liberals, housing costs have doubled – the average mortgage payment used to be $1,432. Now, it’s over $3,500. Before, it took 25 years to pay off a mortgage – now, it takes 25 years just to save for a downpayment. Things have gotten so bad that some families are forced into 90-year mortgages that they will never pay off. And this is a uniquely Canadian problem. Housing in Canada is worse than New York City, London, England and Singapore – a tiny island with 2,000 times more people per square kilometre than in Canada. Now, 9 in 10 young people have given up on the dream of home ownership, many resorting to living in their parents’ basement.
The problem? Not only has record Liberal government spending induced record inflation, which is driving up interest rates. But we also aren’t building enough homes fast enough. We built fewer homes last year than we did in 1972 when our population was half the size. Homebuilding is way down again this year, and the CMHC expects it to remain this way for the
foreseeable future.
This is happening because the Trudeau Liberals subsidize government gatekeepers and red tape that prevents builders from getting shovels in the ground and our people into homes they can afford. The CD Howe Institute has shown that much of the price of a home in many big Canadian cities (over 60% in some cases) is due to delays, fees, regulations and taxes. In Toronto, it’s $375,000. In Vancouver, it’s over $1,000,000.
The Trudeau government isn’t just protecting these gatekeepers; they are funding them with your tax dollars. The bureaucrats at the CMHC – the housing arm of the federal government – are slowing down financing for builders trying to construct affordable apartments. But instead of holding them accountable, the Liberals gave them bonuses – almost $27,000,000 in 2022. In fact, as housing prices have doubled, the number of CMHC staffers taking six-figure annual salaries has grown by 27 percent. The bureaucrats responsible for making housing unaffordable make nearly $700,000 a year.
Only common sense Conservatives have a plan to fix Trudeau’s housing crisis. That’s why just last month, Pierre Poilievre announced that he will be introducing the Building Homes Not Bureaucracy Act, which will put keys in doors and people in homes through a mathematical formula that gives more money to municipalities that are building and meeting targets and takes money away from cities and gatekeepers that aren’t.
Don’t just take my word for it. Here is what the experts in housing have to say about it:
“Ontario is experiencing an unprecedented housing crisis. Pierre Poilievre’s plan to incentivize municipalities into rapidly increasing supply and requiring densification around transit stations is a bold and long overdue step that will help more people find an affordable place to call home in metropolitan centres.”
– Ontario Real Estate Association
“Canadian cities consistently place among the least affordable cities in the world. If we do not increase the supply, this will not change. Pierre Poilievre’s plan places appropriate emphasis on dealing with municipalities to increase supply.”
– Ben Rabidoux, Founder, Edge Realty
Analytics, North Cove Advisors
As we’ve seen since Parliament resumed, the Liberals think the answer is more photo ops and strategies based on promises they broke years ago, forgot about, and are now resurrecting in a desperate attempt to look like they’re helpful, even after the Prime Minister said this summer that, “Housing isn’t a primary federal responsibility.” We strongly disagree. Our strategy relies on strict incentivization and the willpower to hold gatekeepers to account for failing Canadians.
We will ensure municipalities build 15 percent more houses every year by stopping dollars from going to gatekeepers who get in the way of homebuilding and giving big bonuses to municipalities that exceed this number. As Prime Minister, Pierre Poilievre has pledged to link federal infrastructure dollars to the number of homes actually being built and make it as easy as possible for builders to get shovels in the ground.
It’s just common sense.
