Last week’s federal budget trumpeted $10 billion in new spending on housing, among the largest amounts of new spending in the budget. That housing was a major focus of the budget is welcome—and a reflection of that the broad impacts from unaffordable housing can’t be ignored.
Organizations dedicated to housing affordability welcome some of the initiatives while noting that the funding, spread over five years, isn’t enough to make a big difference. Some initiatives:
- Co-op housing: $500 million re-allocated for new co-op housing construction, plus $1 billion in loans, also re-allocated. The focus on co-ops, the first in three decades, is welcome. But $1.5 billion will result in just 6,000 new units. Affordability levels aren’t clear.
- $475 million for direct aid to those in housing need: Welcome, but it’s just a one-time payment and just $500 per household.
- Speeding up construction and repairs: Welcome but doesn’t add new units to the government’s plans, just builds and repairs them earlier.
- Launching a new Housing Accelerator Fund. This fund could provide incentives to municipalities based on units produced or for investments to speed up planning process. It doesn’t appear to directly pay for new units but is expected to result in 100,000 new units over five years, some of which are to be affordable.
- $4 billion for Indigenous housing, over seven years. The Assembly of First Nations estimates a need for $44 billion, just for First Nations, over 10 years.
- Doubling the first-time home buyers tax credit, to $1,500, and creating tax-free first home savings accounts in which first time buyers can make tax-deductible contributions up to $40,000. While that will no doubt help some first-time buyers, critics warn it just adds to demand for homes which tends up push up prices.
Here are some reactions: Canadian Housing and Renewal Association https://chra-achru.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2022-CHRA-Federal-Budget-reaction-EN.pdf
Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative https://chec-ccrl.ca/housing-in-budget-2022-lots-of-words-but-very-few-homes/
Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation https://www.equalityrights.org/cera-blog/housing-investments-in-canada-2022-federal-budget