Canadians head to the polls today, and with a record-setting 7.3 million people casting their vote during advance polls, it will be interesting to see the numbers going to the polls today.
Since Prime Minister Trudeau’s resignation on January 6, the country has experienced a period of political uncertainty, especially in the face of global economic uncertainty due to the US Administration. Housing remains a top issue facing our region and our nation. From affordability and supply to skilled labour and permitting, the issues are complex — and the need for leadership and favourable housing policies has never been greater. A recent Financial Post article indicating that more than half of Canadians say housing policies will influence how they will vote.
In addition to the resources previously shared by CHBA National, we have reviewed the housing promises of the four main political parties — the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, and Greens — and have listed them below for your reference. (Click on the party name to be redirected to the plans on their respective websites. Pages refer to the downloadable party platform document available on their websites)
Liberal Party
- Taking a balanced approach of both public investment and enabling the private sector
- Will cut GST for first-time homebuyers for homes up to $1 million, saving up to $50,000 off a home (p. 38)
- Build Canada Homes: government will act as a developer to build, including on public lands; provide over $25 billion in financing for prefab; $10 billion in low-cost financing and capital for homes serving middle- and low-income Canadians; incentivize apprentice and recent graduate hiring (p.39-40)
- Provide federal investment for municipal infrastructure to cut DCCs in half for multi-unit residential housing for the next 5 years (p.40)
- Build on Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) and increase transparency requirements for municipal improvements (p.41)
- Simplify National Building Codes (NBC) and implement other policies to speed up approvals (p.41)
- Investing in trades apprenticeships and training (p.52-53)
Conservative Party
- Solely focused on supply-side issues of housing and enabling private sector construction
- Remove planned capital gains tax inclusion rate increase, and remove capital gains for profits reinvested in Canada (p.4)
- Reimburse municipalities 50% for each dollar cut from their DCCs, up to a maximum of $50,000 (p.9)
- Provide additional funding for municipalities that permit over 15% more homes per year; withhold funding for municipalities that fall short (p.9)
- Create “Shovel Ready Zones” of pre-approval for faster development (p.7,9)
- Require cities to publish DCCs and approval timelines (p.9)
- Sell 15% of federal buildings and lands to the private sector for housing (p.9)
- Simplify NBC (p.9)
- Require higher density around stations as a condition of federal funding for transit (p.9)
- Reinstate apprenticeship grants and streamline EI for apprentices (p.20)
- Remove CRA home sale reporting requirement (p.23)
- End HAF and Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund (p.27)
New Democratic Party
- Taking a non-market approach to building explicitly affordable housing, providing little direct support for private industry
- Replace the HAF with Canadian Homes Transfer (CHT) and Communities First Fund (CFF)
- CHT: reward cities that build quickly, allow more dense housing forms, especially near transit
- CFF: support provinces in building growth-related infrastructure
- Train over 100,000 skilled workers
- Require rent control policies as well as prohibiting renovictions, demovictions, and other such practices
- Set aside federal crown land to build over 100,000 rent-controlled homes over 10 years
- Expand Public Land Acquisition Fund to acquire more public land in the future
- Publicly finance new construction, including new Community Housing Bank for non-profit, co-op, and Indigenous developers
- Ban financial landlords (REITs, hedge funds, private equity funds) from purchasing existing purpose-built rentals, social housing, affordable housing
- Will not impact legitimate private landlords and property managers
- Implement home retrofit program to provide free upgrades to 2.3 million low-income households and grants/low-interest loans for 1 million more
- For heat pumps, insulation, other energy efficiency upgrades
- Maintain planned increase to capital gains tax inclusion rate
- Update NBC to add cooling requirements and maximum indoor temperature limits
Green Party
- Focused largely on non-market housing, with emphasis on climate-friendly building solutions
- Energy efficiency retrofit program to lower building emissions; direct grants and zero-interest loans for renewable energy installations in homes
- Net-zero building standards by 203 in NBC
- Declare a national emergency on housing affordability and homelessness, legislate housing as a fundamental human right, and set a uniform definition of affordable housing (no more than 30% of household income)
- Build 1.2 million permanently affordable homes over 7 years
- Directly finance and develop non-market housing through the CMHC
- Establish 5 CMHC regional prefab housing plants
- Require permanent affordability covenants for all publicly-financed housing
- Eliminate GST on non-market housing construction materials
- Expand student housing through CMHC rental construction financing initiative and National Housing Strategy
- Make permanent the ban on foreign ownership of residential real estate
- Close loopholes allowing foreign capital into Canadian real estate
- Deferrable property surtax on homes over $1 million
- Implement a National Renters’ Bill of Rights
- Require provinces and territories to have strong rent and vacancy controls
- Require universal design (accessibility) for all federally funded housing
- Expand the Home Renovation Tax Credit to support seniors living independently
- Increase funding for skills training programs, targeting sectors facing chronic labour shortages
If you are unsure where to vote, you can visit the Elections Canada website.
HAVAN has always been a voice for collaboration and progress. Building over 65% of the homes in Metro Vancouver, our 1,100+ member companies are not just economic drivers — we are community builders. We know that policy alone won’t solve the housing crisis, but stable leadership is the first step.
HAVAN remains non-partisan – as well as our provincial and national levels – and regardless of which party secures the majority tonight, we will continue advocating for smart, scalable, and practical solutions to accelerate homebuilding, cut red tape, and ensure our members have the support needed to meet the region’s growing demand.
HAVAN continues to work with CHBA BC and CHBA to advocate for all levels of government to work together to address the challenges of the housing industry including zoning restrictions, density limits, and NIMBYism.
Looking to stay up-to-date on Metro Vancouver’s residential housing industry? Sign up for Wendy’s weekly Monday Morning Briefing and other HAVAN emails here.
