QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Tax Fairness
April 14, 2026
Senator Moreau, today’s Canadian Tax Observatory report, Shelter vs. Tax Shelter, highlights that the First Home Savings Account program benefits high-income Canadians such that poorer taxpayers are underwriting $1.6 billion per year of housing purchases that their wealthier counterparts could have afforded without the subsidies.
A recent Vancouver income-support program demonstrated that cash transfers of as little as $7,500 can help homeless Canadians find stable housing, while actually saving money for governments and, therefore, Canadians.
The Vancouver program data revealed that, if applied to that initiative, the same $1.6 billion would have housed more than 200,000 Canadians — the majority of those experiencing homelessness — in ways that strengthen our communities and economies.
Why is the government instead prioritizing $1.6 billion per year for housing supports for those who don’t need them and in ways that do not address homelessness?
Your question compares two very different challenges as though they were part of the same policy choice.
The First Home Savings Account, FHSA, helps first-time buyers save for a down payment, while homelessness requires supportive housing, prevention and wraparound services. The government is investing directly in both of these areas.
For instance, according to Statistics Canada, 60% of contributors to the FHSA have an income of over $60,000 and were from 25 to 34 years of age.
According to some of the latest available figures from the Canada Revenue Agency, CRA, the average balance for active FHSAs is below $4,000. These are not rich Canadians; these are young Canadians struggling to get into the home ownership market, and that’s why the government is trying to help them.
Thank you for that.
New Statistics Canada data also shows that, in 2025, the gap in income and wealth for those with the most and least has grown.
Why does the federal government persist in promoting tax shelters, such as this initiative, that benefit the wealthy when we see a worsening of affordability for those at the other end of the spectrum?
The government is spending on homelessness efforts. The Reaching Home program is central to that effort, which supports local organizations to deliver vital services and has already helped nearly 112,000 Canadians find stable housing and provided prevention services for over 200,000 more.
The government is targeting many issues, including homelessness and making housing available to young Canadians.
