OTTAWA, Canada – Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and the deputy prime minister and minister of finance, Chrystia Freeland, Friday highlighted key measures included in Budget 2022: A Plan to Grow Our Economy and Make Life More Affordable to improve the housing affordability for Canadians.
The measures proposed in Budget 2022 include:
- Putting Canada on the path to double housing construction over the next decade, including by investing $4 billion for the launch of a new Housing Accelerator Fund that will help create 100,000 new housing units over the next five years.
- Curbing unfair practices that drive up the price of housing by imposing a two-year ban on foreign capital coming into Canada to buy residential real estate; and taking steps to make property flippers pay their fair share.
- Helping Canadians buy their first home by introducing the Tax-Free First Home Savings Account to allow first-time homebuyers to save up to $40,000; doubling the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit to $10,000, providing up to $1,500 in direct support to home buyers; extending the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive to March 31, 2025, to allow first-time homebuyers to lower their borrowing costs; and investing $200 million to help develop and scale up rent-to-own projects across Canada.
- Protecting buyers and renters by working with provinces and territories to develop and implement a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights and bring forward a national plan to end blind bidding.
- Continuing to fight homelessness and support housing affordability, particularly for the most vulnerable by investing $475 million in 2022-23 to provide a one-time $500 payment to those facing housing affordability challenges; providing $1.5 billion to extend the Rapid Housing Initiative and create at least 6,000 additional affordable housing units across Canada; advancing $2.9 billion under the National Housing Co-Investment Fund to accelerate the creation of up to 4,300 new units and repair of up to 17,800 units for vulnerable Canadians ahead of schedule; and providing $562.2 million over two years to continue to prevent and address homelessness through Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy.
- Addressing the housing needs of Indigenous Peoples by investing $4.3 billion over seven years to improve and expand Indigenous housing in Canada. Along with these investments, $2 billion of the $20 billion provided for long-term reform of the First Nations Child and Family Services program will be allocated to target the housing needs of First Nations children once a final settlement is reached.
Budget 2022 proposes targeted and responsible investments to give all Canadians a safe and affordable place to call home. This is part of our plan to make life more affordable, create jobs and prosperity today, grow the middle class, and build a stronger economic future for everyone.
