Vaughan, Ont., April 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) is pleased that the Canada Housing Plan announced today contains measures that will help boost purpose-built rental housing but notes that first-time homebuyers are still left out of the market.
“By providing meaningful incentives to home builders to depreciate the capital costs of new rental buildings this initiative will support more homes being built across Canada,” says RESCON president Richard Lyall. “Over the years, we have failed to produce enough purpose-built rental housing and are now paying the price for that.
“However, if we are to resurrect the prime minister’s dream of young people being able to afford a home, concerted action must also be taken to help first-time homebuyers who are struggling to put together funds to own a home. The announcement is a positive move for rental housing, but the federal government must do more for people who want to buy their first home.”
RESCON has been calling for the federal government to fully exempt or rebate the collection of the HST to first-time buyers who purchase a new home.
Presently, 31 per cent of the cost of buying a new home is attributable to taxes, fees and levies, according to a study that was done by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis. Seventy-six per cent of people seeking to buy a home can’t afford to buy and live in what is being built. In the Toronto area, ownership costs amount to 84 per cent of median household income. No Canadian family should have to spend more than 30 per cent of its income on housing.
RESCON supports other measures in the government plan and commends the commitment to building 3.8 million homes by 2031. Initiatives to train more skilled trades workers and ease credential recognition for immigrants who can work in the residential trades are welcome news. The residential construction industry is in need of workers with the skill sets to build new homes.
The government is providing an additional $50 million in the Foreign Credential Recognition Program, with a focus on bringing in the skilled trades workers needed to get more homes built.
Land supply is also an issue and RESCON supports the launch of a Public Land for Homes plan that aims to accelerate the process of making more public land available for new housing.
“You can’t advance a nation and homebuilding without having the land to build on,” explains Lyall. “If implemented properly, the plan will certainly help the situation by freeing up more land for housing. We have a dire housing supply and affordability crisis and must pull out all the stops.”
RESCON is the province’s leading association of residential builders committed to providing leadership and fostering innovation in the industry.
