In June, the House of Commons and the Senate concluded their winter/spring 2024 parliamentary session and Members of Parliament returned to work in their constituencies until the House reconvenes in September. Looking back at the session, housing affordability and accessibility were once again front and centre with a great deal of action from our advocacy team and a number of key wins for REALTORS® and those they serve across the housing continuum.
REALTORS®, including our Political Action Committee (PAC) representatives, worked hard along with partners across the housing continuum to help shape the federal government’s housing policy. These collective efforts resulted in a number of REALTOR® recommendations being implemented through Canada’s Housing Plan and Budget 2024. Here are the highlights of this year so far.
- Building the necessary infrastructure to support growing communities
- Increasing apartment and rental housing stock
- Extended mortgage amortizations for first-time home buyers purchasing newly constructed homes
- Increasing the Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal limit
- Investments into prefabricated and modular housing
Building the necessary infrastructure to support growing communities
In 2021, a key REALTOR® recommendation in CREA’s pre-budget submission for the 2022 federal budget was adding housing clauses in bilateral infrastructure agreements between Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities Canada (formerly Infrastructure Canada) and provincial and territorial partners.
This measure was implemented in Canada’s Housing Plan and Budget 2024 through measures including:
- An additional $400 million towards the Housing Accelerator Fund, which provides incentive funding to local governments.
- Launching a new $6 billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund, meant to accelerate the construction and upgrading of critical housing infrastructure.
An announcement has also been made that access to federal funding for public transit will have requirements on municipalities, such as unlocking high-density housing supply near transit lines and post-secondary institutions.
As of July 2024, the federal government has signed 179 agreements with municipalities across Canada.
Increasing apartment and rental housing stock
REALTORS® advocated for the creation of a significant stimulus package to increase housing stock across the continuum during PAC Days 2020.
Budget 2024 implemented this by announcing an additional $15 billion in new loan funding starting in 2025-26 for the Apartment Construction Loan Program, bringing the program’s total to over $55 billion. This program is intended to provide low-cost loans to encourage rental housing unit construction.
Other measures, such as the temporary Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance for new purpose-built rental projects and the expansion of the removal of federal taxes (GST) for rental housing, are also expected to assist with increasing apartment and rental housing supply.
If you’re interested in becoming a Political Action Committee (PAC) Rep, speak with your local board or association. For ongoing federal affairs updates, please visit REALTORActionNetwork.ca.
Extended mortgage amortizations for first-time home buyers purchasing newly constructed homes
The federal government announced in Budget 2024 this spring that it would be strengthening the Canadian Mortgage Charter to allow 30-year mortgage amortizations for first-time home buyers purchasing newly constructed homes.
This new insured mortgage product was made available on August 1, 2024, and partially fulfills a 2021 PAC Days ask as PAC representatives, and other affordability and housing advocates, called on the government to allow 30-year amortizations on insured mortgages for all first-time buyers.
Increasing the Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal limit
During the 2021 federal election campaign, CREA and other advocates for the accessibility of homeownership broadly called for an increase to the RRSP withdrawal limit.
Budget 2024 announced the government’s intention to amend the Income Tax Act to increase the Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal limit from $35,000 to $60,000, enabling first-time home buyers to use the tax benefits of a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) to save up to $25,000 more for their down payment. The increased limit was made available to first-time buyers as of April 16, 2024.
Budget 2024 also announced the government’s intention to amend the Income Tax Act to temporarily extend the grace period, during which homeowners are not required to repay their Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawals to their RRSP, by an additional three years.
Investments into prefabricated and modular housing
As part of PAC at Home 2024, PAC representatives asked the federal government to commit to stimulating prefabricated housing through funding streams that allow the industry to scale and ensure that prefabricated housing is incentivized under the Housing Accelerator Fund to improve supply across the housing continuum.
The government committed to scaling up prefabricated housing by launching the new $50 million Homebuilding Technology and Innovation Fund, and committed to finding innovative ways to build homes faster through additional funding streams in Budget 2024. Work remains on pushing for Housing Accelerator Fund partnerships to innovative housing practices.
Everyone deserves a place to call home in Canada. REALTORS®, along with partners, are working hard 12 months a year to advocate for housing accessibility across the housing continuum. While REALTORS® are content to see historic developments from past efforts to get affordable, accessible homes built, they are already working on future recommendations to help relieve the housing crisis in Canada.
There remains a great deal of work ahead—especially as consultations for newly announced federal programs and funding take place over the months to come.
To read all REALTOR® Recommendations, please visit CREA.ca.
