Alberta Seniors, Community, and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon said the Canadian government’s target for housing starts is ambitious — so much so it might be impossible. While Nixon knows Alberta’s numbers better, he said Housing Minister Sean Fraser would be better able to speak about housing starts in Canada. “What I will say though is Minister Fraser and I are completely aligned on the only way to solve the affordable housing crisis is to be build more homes,” said Nixon at a Wednesday press scrum. “And so our primary focus in Alberta right now is to get to the maximum construction capability that we have.” Housing developers have indicated Alberta can double capacity, and it is on track to accomplish that this year. He said there “will be a point where we reach the point where he just literally can’t build any faster than that.” Since building enough homes might be unfeasible, he said it has looked at repairing current and offline units and different renovation policies that could alleviate construction issues. While it has not reached capacity right now, he remains concerned it might be approaching it soon. Builders warned on Monday Fraser’s goal of achieving 3.9 million new housing starts by 2031 is unattainable. READ MORE: 'NOT A CHANCE:' Builders warn Fraser's target of 3.9 million new homes by 2031 is unrealisticDespite proposed incentives, the construction industry faces significant slowdowns.“We are staring into a pit,” said Residential Construction Council of Ontario President Richard Lyall. Nixon followed up by saying the Alberta government’s focus has been on a few areas. “One has been on the reduction of red tape, attracting more trades to move specifically to Alberta,” he said.“I mean one of the things we worked with Minister [Matt] Jones on is changing Alberta Is Calling to really focus on residential construction trades in the short term, because we know we obviously got to build housing if we want people to move to the province.” He pledged to work with municipalities on permit approvals to ensure Alberta can build more homes. Additionally, he said it would spend money on its affordable housing supply. The Alberta government said on May 1 it was offering moving bonuses of up to $5,000 for skilled trades workers in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec to fill job vacancies in areas such as housing and infrastructure. READ MORE: Alberta is ‘calling’ skilled trades with $5,000 moving bonusesJones said the campaign is being bolstered by a one-time refundable tax credit to seal the deal. To attract more people to Alberta, the government said it would allocate $10 million to them. The ad campaign will cost an additional $2.5 million.
