Trudeau reveals Liberal plan to build nearly 3.9M homes by 2031 amid housing crisis

The federal government unveiled its housing plan ahead of next week’s budget, which they say will see nearly 3.9 million homes built by 2031.

Trudeau was joined by Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland to announce what they call “the most comprehensive and ambitious housing plan ever seen in Canada.”

The housing plan’s three main goals are to build more homes, make it easier to rent or own a home and help Canadians who can’t afford a home.

Trudeau said they want to ensure no Canadian pays more than 30 per cent of their income towards their home in an approach that focuses on increasing the housing supply to bring down prices.

“It’s a Team Canada approach that provides incentives for provinces, territories, builders and non-profits to come on board.”

The plan includes the already announced $6 billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund as well as providing an additional $400 million dollars to the $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund to incentivize an additional 12,000 new homes in the next three years.

Trudeau said they would also increase support for workers in the skilled trades and create apprenticeship opportunities for the next generation.

“The construction industry will need reinforcements to get all this work done,” said Trudeau. “Canada is working hard under our government to pass legislation that is about workers and about supporting the kinds of good clean jobs that the future is going to bring.”

Freeland said they will be revealing more of their plan in the federal budget announcement to ensure fairness for every generation.

“We need to make the dream of home ownership a reality for younger Canadians,” added Freeland.

Some of the measures for renters announced Friday include creating a Canadian Renters’ Bill of Rights and launching a $15 million Tenant Protection Fund.

For those who can’t afford a home, the federal government said they will provide $1 billion to the Affordable Housing Fund and invest $250 million to address the urgent issue of encampments and homelessness in communities across Canada.

Scott Aitchison, Conservative Shadow Minister for Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, said the announcements made Friday “don’t change the fact that his strategy has doubled housing costs over the last eight years.”

“Eight years ago, Justin Trudeau promised his national housing strategy. Eight years later, mortgages and rents have doubled and middle-class Canadians are forced to live in tent encampments all across our country,” read his statement. “Common sense Conservatives will build the homes by punishing gatekeepers that block home building and rewarding those who get homes built.”

The Parliamentary Budget Office revealed Thursday that Canada would need to build 1.3 million additional homes by 2030 to eliminate the country’s housing gap.

The Trudeau government has made several housing-related announcements ahead of the federal budget, including the announcement they will allow 30-year amortization periods on insured mortgages for first-time homebuyers purchasing newly built homes. That change is expected to take effect Aug. 1.

The budget is being presented on April 16.

With files from The Canadian Press