CMHC on Thursday said the removal of federal barriers to interprovincial trade will have little impact on new housing construction, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.The admission followed Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland’s recommendation that Canadians lower expectations of Bill C-5, An Act to Enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility Act.“New modeling by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows elimination of interprovincial trade barriers in Canada may incentivize more than 30,000 housing starts annually, pushing the total number close to 280,000 starts over time,” said a CMHC Housing Observer report.Cabinet has targeted construction of 480,000 to 500,000 new homes annually as the minimum required to meet demand..Conservatives promise $500B in extra economic growth, build 2.3 million homes.Parliament on June 26 passed into law Bill C-5. Section 4 commits cabinet to “removing federal barriers to the interprovincial movement of goods and provision of services.”The bill did not specify penalties for non-compliance.CMHC on Thursday called the bill a “meaningful step” but acknowledged little result was expected.“The current movement towards elimination of interprovincial trade barriers is a good step forward in responding to the current international trade crisis and one that economists have called for over decades,” said the report.“That said, there is a need for commensurate investment in transportation infrastructure across the country.”.Home building executive says modular home construction has challenges.Minister Freeland in June 18 testimony at the Commons Transport Committee urged Canadians to lower their expectations of Bill C-5.“The fact is this is principally a provincial matter,” said Freeland, adding she was “careful not to overstate the specific contribution this legislation will make.”“The federal legislation is about being part of a broader wave and a broader national effort to remove barriers to internal trade and labour mobility,” testified Freeland.“This legislation by itself won’t do the job.”Builders construct an average 250,000 new homes annually, by CMHC estimate.“Housing starts need to double,” said a July 3 CMHC report on Canada’s housing supply shortages..Liberals’ housing fund adds only 5% more housing starts.Federal managers in a secret internal June 18, 2024, Briefing Note to the Minister of Housing acknowledged cabinet’s affordability target could not be met.“Under current rates of production Canada’s construction industry is not projected to meet the housing supply needed to address demand and restore affordability,” said the note released through Access to Information.The memo to then-Housing Minister Sean Fraser was written a month after he personally promised to fix the housing crisis.“I am going to be the person who actually goes and does it,” Fraser testified May 9, 2024 at the Commons Human Resources Committee.
