Canada’s federal budget, due next month, is expected to allocate billions of dollars for investing in constructing homes and low-cost housing programs, as stated by Housing Minister Sean Fraser on Monday.
Canada is dealing with a housing affordability problem due to a quickly growing immigrant population that has outpaced the number of available homes.
Persistently high inflation and the highest interest rates in 22 years have also led to increased rent and mortgage costs.
Fraser mentioned at a housing conference in Ottawa that he doesn't want to reveal everything about the upcoming federal budget, but emphasized the need for substantial investments in housing.
According to Fraser, the funds will be used for constructing homes and supporting low-cost housing programs.
Fraser stated that when low-cost financing programs are put forward, it could involve billions, sometimes tens of billions of dollars to help with new home construction, without specifying if these will all be part of the federal budget announcement or providing exact figures.
He emphasized the need for a significant level of investment that involves direct spending, financing programs, and a total of billions of dollars.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is set to present the budget in the Parliament on April 16.
As housing affordability becomes a major issue before next year’s election, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s main opponent, has pointed fingers at the Liberal government for the crisis.
The government has taken several measures to increase supply over the past year, but they have stated that these measures will not bring immediate relief.
To keep up with the growing population, Canada needs to build 315,000 new residences every year until 2030, which is more than a third higher than the current pace of housing completions, as per Robert Hogue, assistant chief economist at RBC.
(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; editing by Barbara Lewis)
