Office of the Prime Minister
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Everyone deserves to succeed. But today, for too many Canadians, your hard work isn’t paying off like it did for previous generations. Your paycheque doesn’t go as far as costs go up, and saving enough seems harder and harder. It doesn’t have to be this way. Every generation should get a fair chance to get ahead.
One of the biggest pressures on young people right now is housing, and this is true for Canadians right across the country. We’ve already taken bold action to build more homes, faster, improve access to housing, and make homes more affordable – and we know there is more to be done. We need a Team Canada effort to tackle our national housing crisis – getting every partner on board and getting more homes built. That means every order of government coming together and building more homes for Canadians at prices they can afford, especially on land ready for development.
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced transformative measures from the upcoming Budget 2024 to get shovels in the ground and build more homes, faster.
These measures include:
- Delivering a $15 billion top-up to the Apartment Construction Loan Program to build a minimum of 30,000 new apartments. With this top-up, the program’s financing is on track to build over 131,000 new apartments within the next decade.
- Announcing new reforms to the Apartment Construction Loan Program to increase access to the program and make it easier for builders to build. These reforms include:
- Extending loan terms;
- Extending access to financing to include housing for students and seniors;
- Introducing a portfolio approach to eligibility requirements so builders can move forward on multiple sites at once;
- Providing additional flexibility on affordability, energy efficiency, and accessibility requirements; and
- Launching a new frequent builder stream to fast-track the application process for proven home builders.
- Launching Canada Builds – partnering with provinces and territories to build more rental housing across the country. The federal government is leveraging its $55 billion Apartment Construction Loan Program by making it available to support partnerships with provinces and territories that launch their own ambitious housing plans, similar to the recently announced BC Builds initiative. In order to access federal financing, provinces and territories will be expected to meet the benchmarks set by BC Builds and deliver action to build even more homes. These actions include:
- Complementing federal funds with provincial or territorial investments into housing;
- Building on government, non-profit, community-owned, and vacant lands;
- Streamlining the process to cut development approval timelines to no longer than 12 to 18 months; and
- Meeting all criteria included in the Apartment Construction Loan Program, including affordability requirements.
Communities across the country are facing housing pressures. The measures announced today will make it easier, cheaper, and faster to build homes in Canada. For students, it will mean getting the keys to their first home and living close to campus. For young families, it will mean getting a good home near work, opportunity, and in a vibrant neighbourhood. And for seniors, it will mean an affordable place where you can downsize with security and dignity. We’re encouraging provinces and territories to partner with us on these ambitious housing plans to get more homes built, faster.
Yesterday, we announced a new $6 billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund and a $400 million top-up to the Housing Accelerator Fund to ensure communities have the infrastructure they need to grow and build more homes. These are just a few of the things that we are going to be doing in Budget 2024 to bring down the cost of rent and unlock homeownership. Alongside these measures, we’re protecting renters, investing in health care, improving access to child care, making life more affordable, and creating good jobs, to make sure every generation can get ahead.
