The Conservative Party’s housing platform vows to build 2.3 million homes over the next five years by removing taxes on homebuyers and builders. CHBA strongly supports removing the GST on all new homes under $1.3 million which will go a long way towards unlocking the door to homeownership and has been a key recommendation from the sector for years.
The plan also contains several measures to remove red tape, something that is long overdue. This includes a pledge to fast-track home building through “Shovel Ready Zones” so new homes can be built faster; requiring cities to publish approval timelines and development charges so Canadians can see how their city is performing compared to others; and holding back federal dollars from cities that raise building fees or block needed development.
The Conservative also promise to target development charges, saying that for every dollar of relief a municipality offers in development charges, a Conservative government will reimburse 50%, up to a maximum of $50,000 in savings for buyers of new construction homes. While CHBA strongly supports addressing out of control development charges (DCs), municipalities will still lose half of the DC reduction in this model, so may not reduce DCs at all. Therefore, this proposal would be more effective if there were other requirements to ensure more take up or the proposal would cover all reductions initially, on a declining scale, and/or including infrastructure support to offset losses which would improve the likelihood of municipal take up. There is also the need to find alternatives alternative funding models to development taxes so that development taxes are lowered permanently (and municipalities can replace their DC revenues with alternative revenue streams that are more equitable for both buyers of new homes and existing communities).
So, while there are positive items in the Conservative’s housing proposals, there is nothing on productivity and nothing on factory-built housing. The Conservatives are proposing an ambitious plan of building 2.3 million homes over the next five years but do not acknowledge the severe labour shortages impacting the sector or the necessity to support industry in increasing productivity. That is why CHBA has a ready-made Sector Transition Strategy that outlines the important role factory-built home construction can have – but only if the government supports de-risking this industry transition. The Conservative plan also only addresses unionized labour, but outside of the province of Quebec and the GTA, the vast majority of the residential construction labour force is not unionized. To get more houses built, non-unionized workers need to also be supported by government policies.
There are a few missed opportunities in the Conservative housing platform. However, with added engagement with the home building sector, a Conservative government can ensure gaps can be filled and more Canadians can achieve the dream of homeownership.
For more on CHBA’s recommendations on the federal role, see CHBA’s Unlocking the Door to Homeownership, as well as CHBA’s 2025 federal election platform tracker.