Sask. Homebuilders group says federal budget addresses big needs

This is being done through several initiatives including $15 billion in additional loans for the Apartment Construction Loan Program, investments for Indigenous housing to be delivered by Indigenous governments, organizations, housing, and service providers, and leveraging rental payment history to improve credit scores as part of the new Renters Bill of Rights.

The plan will also feature more funding to attract, train, and hire skilled trade workers to build these homes.

“We are delivering ambitious action and investments to build more homes, make it easier to rent or own, and help the most vulnerable with stable housing,” said Trudeau. “This is about restoring fairness for every generation, and housing is at the heart of that.”

The CEO of the SRHBA said the Federal Housing Plan and money announced in the budget aligns with many of the solutions the organization has proposed over the last several years.

“We are eager to assess the impact these measures will have on advancing housing solutions within Saskatoon and surrounding region,” Nicole Burgess said in the release.

One of the other features in the budget the SRHBA was happy to see was the introduction of 30-year amortization periods for insured mortgages for first-time buyers.

“This extension is a crucial development for the housing market, expected to empower more first-time buyers to achieve their homeownership dreams and consequently increase much-needed housing starts,” Burgess said.

Other elements of the Federal Housing Plan include investment in infrastructure and public transit, a three-year freeze on increasing development charges and $50 million to the Home Building Technology Innovation Fund.

The federal government is also eyeing underutilized Canada Post and National Defence properties to deliver affordability and supply to the country’s housing market.

It announced plans to free up lands held by both entities to build housing.

However, those figures signal the government thinks we need to double housing construction, according to Mike Moffatt, the senior director of the Smart Prosperity Institute, a University of Ottawa-based think tank.

“I’m not sure that this (budget) gets us there, but it gets us a long, long way,” he said.

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. has said the country needs to build 3.5 million more homes by 2030 to restore affordability to levels seen in 2003 and 2004.

To close the gap between housing supply and demand, the Parliamentary Budget Officer has said the country needs to build 181,000 additional units on average each year until 2030, leaving the nation with 3.1 million net housing units.

Aside from supply, the budget was also speckled with rhetoric about investors profiting from real estate. At least six times in the 416-page budget, the Liberals said, “Homes are for Canadians to live in, not speculative assets for investors.”

It was an allusion to investors, who the Bank of Canada estimates have snapped up one-third of home purchases between 2014 and 2022.

“There’s a belief out there that many Canadians have that it doesn’t really matter what you do on the supply side because those homes are just going to get bought up by investors and speculators,” Moffatt said.

“I think they needed to address that concern.”

–With files from The Canadian Press

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

by Derek Craddock

Sask. Homebuilders group says federal budget addresses big needs

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