QUESTION PERIOD — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
National Housing Strategy
May 22, 2024
Government leader, despite countless promises and photo ops over nine years, this NDP-Trudeau government is still failing to build the homes that Canadians need. Last year, even though a severe housing crisis was well under way across the country, housing starts dropped 7% compared to 2022. This information came from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Statistics Canada recently reported that the value of residential building permits fell by over 8% in March, with multi-family dwellings falling even further by 9%.
Leader, how many houses must be built each day for the Trudeau government to meet its promise of 3.87 million new homes by 2031?
How many?
Well, we can all do the math. The important point to underline is that this government has invested seriously and significantly, and is working with partners — not only provincially, but also municipally — to unlock the barriers to the construction of new housing. In that regard, housing starts do not always follow immediately upon arrangements that are made, whether it’s with municipalities who have agreed to increase their density or streamline their bylaw approval process, or with provinces with whom the government is continuing to discuss and enter into agreements. Nonetheless, houses are being built, and the potential for more houses is being unlocked through the Housing Accelerator Fund and the work that the government is doing with partners and stakeholders.
On the contrary, the NDP-Trudeau government has failed to make daily life affordable, and failed to build more houses. Last week, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that housing starts were down once again in April compared to March.
Leader, don’t you agree that housing starts should go up during a housing crisis — not down?
No. Those of us who have been in either the real estate business or the construction business understand that there is a lag, and that a number of factors play into how quickly projects can get off the ground, whether that involves labour shortage issues, interest rate issues or regulatory issues. That is the proper explanation for the pace at which the projects get off the ground.
