Canadians struggle as housing costs grow under the Liberal government

NDP Critic for Housing, Jenny Kwan, made the following statement:

“In cities across the country, it's getting harder for Canadians to afford a decent place to live in their communities. Instead of the federal government taking action to help everyday people, recent reports show things are actually getting worse.

The Liberal housing strategy is delivering far less social and affordable housing than it used to and it's Canadians and their faimilies who are suffering for the government's failure. A recent report by the National Housing Council said that the Liberal’s largest housing programs ‘could meet only a fraction of existing need’ and the Parliamentary Budget Officer also said that the affordability gap and housing need will only continue to grow under the Liberal plan. Despite these troubling concerns, the government still refuses to recognize the lack of affordable housing as a crisis.

The Liberals are also dragging their feet on addressing the financialization of housing. After six years in power, they have only brought in a weak one per cent tax on vacant homes owned by those who don’t live in Canada, all while adding more loopholes to exemptions for vacation homes of non-residents living outside the country.

Canadians can’t afford a home because they are competing with investors with deep pockets. The federal government is allowing these rich investors to treat housing like a stock market, meanwhile real estate investment trusts have been left to scoop up existing affordable rentals to renovict people in order to maximize profits for their shareholders.

The situation is unacceptable for Canadians who just want a fair chance to afford a decent home. New Democrats will keep up the fight to build 500,000 new homes that Canadians can actually afford as a first step to addressing the growing shortage of supply. We will also continue to push the government to take immediate action on housing speculators, including taxing house flippers and limiting investment properties. Canadians can’t afford more Liberal inaction."