Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a plan in the federal budget to solve the housing crisis. Projecting the construction of 3.87 million new homes by 2031, the funds will be distributed among different public programs, creating a partnership between the public and private sectors to achieve the goal.
The government is pledging a $15 billion increase to the total budget of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Apartment Construction Loan Program. The program was already slated to build around 100,000 rental units by 2031. With this increase, it’s estimated that this number will grow by at least 30,000 units.
Another part of the funds will go toward water, wastewater, stormwater, and solid waste infrastructure for new homes. The plan stipulates that $6 billion is to be allocated to this endeavour. However, to be able to access these funds, provinces are going to have to agree to build “missing middle homes” (duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, townhouses, and small multi-unit apartments). That plan has already been met with some controversy as certain provinces have already declined to pursue the funds offered by the federal government, unhappy with the strings attached by the feds.
The plan also includes $4.3 billion meant to help indigenous housing projects. These homes have to be “culturally appropriate Indigenous housing to be delivered by Indigenous governments, organizations, and housing and service providers.” Another $4 billion is being pledged for co-op housing projects. These funds are seemingly reserved for new projects that could include both private and public funds.
Under this new plan, the government is committing $903.5 million to support low- to median-income households in the energy efficiency retrofitting of their homes. This Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program replaces the popular Greener Homes Grant program.
The Greener Homes Grant program was popular, running out of funding after only two and a half years as it ran out of funding when it was originally slated to run for seven years. With the rumours that the program would be cut, the home inspection industry started seeing layoffs in early March. The industry had been growing rapidly due to the grant program. Now with the closure of the grants program that growth has been stifled. It remains to be seen how much of an effect the new program will have.
The cancellation of the Greener Homes Grant has not only created uncertainty within the retrofit industry, it also brings a cloud of doubt around the entire plan to solve the housing crisis.
“Discontinuing this program has created uncertainty in the HVAC and energy monitoring industries and an unsustainable boom-bust dynamic that will cause considerable chaos,” writes Environmental Defence Canada in a letter to government officials.
