QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Home Ownership
December 9, 2021
Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate, Senator Gold. The dream of home ownership is drifting further and further out of reach for our young people. A public poll released yesterday found that roughly half of young people in Montreal believe they will never be able to own a home.
The Canadian Real Estate Association reported that over the past year, home prices increased by 20% in the Montreal region and by 13% in Quebec City. Canada has one of the highest rates of housing sector inflation in the G7 and the lowest number of housing units per capita.
Senator Gold, why is there no plan to address this situation? Why doesn’t the Trudeau government do some constructive thinking, for example, by taking stock of the government’s real estate portfolio and how it is being used?
I thank the honourable senator for the question. You raise an important issue that is front of mind: the housing situation for Canadians, especially young Canadians.
It is not true that the government is not doing anything about it. On the contrary, as it announced in the Speech from the Throne, the Government of Canada remains committed to making housing more affordable. That includes, among other things, the $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund, a commitment to work for the less fortunate and to put an end to this terrible problem in our country, a more flexible First-Time Home Buyer’s Incentive, and a rent-to-own program that will help Canadians become homeowners.
