With federal politics dominating the news lately, the housing crisis in Canada has received little attention, but it is still as major an issue as it has been for years. And try as it might, the Justin Trudeau government has failed to solve the crisis after nine years in office. As part of its 2015 election promises, the Liberals promised to remove the GST on capital investments in affordable rental construction, dropping the pledge two years later and then reintroducing it in 2023, renaming it the apartment construction program. Also mentioned in its 2015 election platform was an intention to dedicate federal lands and buildings to affordable residential construction. There are still two federal programs in place designed for the transference or leasing of federal lands for development of affordable housing, however, as of September 2023, only 4,000 new housing units had been created. Prior to that, in 2017, the Liberals launched the National Housing Strategy with $115 billion, which included $13 billion for low-interest loans for housing projects. The program was renamed the Affordable Housing Fund, with the Liberal government saying it had committed $7.49 billion to create 31,589 new housing units. In 2021, the Liberals introduced a $300 million initiative to convert unused office buildings into housing, working with municipalities to create a fast-track system for development permits. Also in 2021, the Liberals said they would slow down foreign ownership of nonrecreational, residential properties for two years and then extended the program last year, even though the STOREYS website says here is little evidence the program has had any impact. During their tenure, the Trudeau Liberals have also talked about a rent-to-own program, committing $1 billion in loans and grants to develop rent-to-own projects with private, not-for-profit and other partners. It was all talk as no such program has ever existed. One program still in effect is the tax-free First Home Savings Account which allows Canadians to save 100% of every dollar they earn, up to $40,000 to shorten the time it takes to save for a downpayment. And then there’s the $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund that the Liberals claimed would “grow the annual housing supply in the countries’ largest cities with a target of building 100,000 new homes by the end of 2025.” Since its introduction, the Liberals say more than 100 municipalities, including the City of Calgary, have taken money from the fund. And, even after all these initiatives, Canadians are still faced with a housing crisis, exacerbated by the Liberals allowing more than 4,000,000 immigrants into the country in less than ten years. Based on the average size of a Canadian household, 1,538,461 new homes are needed to house them, over and above the new housing needs of Canadians. This is not to say Canada should not welcome immigrants; obviously we should. They seek a better life and most contribute greatly to the country and to Canadians. What is also obvious is politicians, bureaucrats and ideologues should get the hell out of the way and let the development and building industries provide the needed housing. It’s said the housing crisis is caused by a lack of supply, which does play a role, but the real crisis is affordability. That governments and their bureaucrats contribute to the high cost of housing is a fact. A new-home builder told me recently it goes to the ridiculous, saying he has seen new community designs approved by one bureaucrat, only to have a bureaucrat in the same building turn down the design because he or she did not like where a park was located in the design. That means the developer has to go back to the drawing boards, adding time and costs to housing. The Liberals have pissed away billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money to little effect. That money in the employ of developers and builders would go much further to supply the housing that is needed and with bureaucrats and ideologues out of the way, it would be much more affordable. The same builder told me the industry, given some breaks and incentives, could provide the housing at cost. A national organization, comprised of development and building industry representatives could be formed to coordinate the construction schedules. The initiatives of the Trudeau Liberals to solve the housing crisis have failed and will continue to failure. If we want to see an end to the housing crisis in Canada, give the job to the professional
