Question Period Note: Rent Affordability

• The Government of Canada is taking a leadership role to address the affordability challenges Canadian renters are facing by:

o taking action to accelerate investment that builds more purpose-built rental housing by removing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from new rental projects. Removing the GST on new rental projects will incentivize the construction of more apartment buildings, student housing, and seniors’ residences.

o increasing the supply of housing available to rent through investments such as the $55 billion Apartment Loan Construction Program.

o growing and strengthening Canada’s community housing sector, enabling it to provide more affordable housing options for Canadians; and

o working collaboratively with provinces, territories and everyone involved in renting to improve systems and strengthen protections for renters, by advancing the Blueprint for a Renters’ Bill of Rights and through initiatives such as the Tenant Protection Fund.

• Build Canada Homes will streamline development timelines, leverage public lands, and reduce financial barriers to build truly affordable homes for low and middle-income Canadians, at scale.

• About one-third of Canadians rent their homes, and renter households have grown by over 20% in the past decade. High costs, low vacancy rates, and limited availability make it difficult to find affordable, safe, and secure housing.

• At the same time, the supply of purpose-built rental housing has not kept pace with population growth, driving affordability concerns.

• To address the growing rental housing shortage and improve affordability, the federal government has introduced several targeted measures to maintain and boost the supply of rental housing, including:

o The Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) offers low-cost repayable and forgivable loans to build new affordable housing and repair/renew existing affordable and community housing;

o The Apartment Construction Loan Program (ACLP), now totaling over $55 billion, offers low-cost financing to developers building rental housing;

o The Federal Community Housing Initiative (FCHI) a $618.2 million fund that supports federally administered community housing projects reaching the end of their operating agreements from earlier social and affordable housing programs, including with rental assistance for low-income tenants; and

o Announced in Budget 2024, the Canada Rental Protection Fund (CRPF) is set to provide $1 billion in loans and $470 million in grants to non-profits to acquire and maintain affordable rental housing.

• The federal government is also creating the financial incentives to build more homes, faster, by removing the GST from new purpose-built rental housing projects, such as apartment buildings, student housing, and seniors’ residences.

o Removing the GST from new apartment construction will enable builders to build more projects and create more units at more affordable rents across Canada.

o The Enhanced GST Rental Rebate would apply to projects that begin construction on or after September 14, 2023, and on or before December 31, 2030, and complete construction by December 31, 2035.

• The federal government is also calling on provinces, territories, and housing partners to support fair and transparent renting through the advancement of the Blueprint for a Renters’ Bill of Rights – while also investing in tenant protections through the $15 million Tenant Protection Fund, and proposing changes to the Canadian Mortgage Charter to help renters build credit.

• More needs to be done to increase the supply of housing and bring down rental costs. That is why the Government is working to launch Build Canada Homes. Build Canada Homes will accelerate the construction of affordable housing with low-cost financing and capital and will scale up the construction of homes in a way that drives innovation to makes homebuilding faster.

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