Ottawa, ON – Scott Aitchison, Conservative Shadow Minister for Housing, issued the following statement on the Liberal government’s ongoing failures to get things built:

“Mark Carney promised to double housing construction to 500,000 homes a year and move at ‘speeds we haven’t seen in generations.’ Over one year in, the result is the opposite: fewer permits, fewer starts and a housing crisis that keeps getting worse.

“Yesterday’s report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) revealed that housing starts ‘have continued to lose momentum’ since last year’s federal budget. The same report said that Mark Carney’s $13 billion housing bureaucracy, Build Canada Homes, is on track to add only 2 percent of the new homes the Prime Minister promised, and not enough ‘to achieve the previously targeted pace of homebuilding’.

“Conservatives have championed clear policies to get homes built by removing the taxes that drive up costs: cutting the GST on new homes, cutting development charges, ending capital gains taxes on reinvestment in new housing, and tying federal infrastructure dollars to real housing permits.

“Immediately after the election, Mark Carney’s Housing Minister walked away from key commitments, saying Canada is ‘years away’ from building half a million homes annually, shrugging that ‘housing is a slow-moving creature’.

“Canadians can’t afford more excuses. CMHC’s latest outlook projects homebuilding could drop by as much as 18.1 per cent over the next three years, and forecasts housing starts will be 55 per cent below CMHC’s own target to restore affordability. Permits have plunged too: the total value of building permits issued was down by $1.1 billion in February, a decline of 8.4 per cent from the previous month. No wonder Canada now has the second-slowest permit approvals in the OECD.

“Canada has the land, workers, and know-how to build, but after a decade of Liberal failure, we have the worst housing affordability in the G7. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has found the average home costs 34 per cent more than what an average-income household can afford. The Canadian Real Estate Association now puts the average dollar figure at $673,084. It’s no surprise Abacus Data found that ‘Canadians still want homeownership, but many no longer believe the system will let them achieve it’.

“While Liberals raise costs, like the industrial carbon tax on steel, glass, and cement, Conservatives are focused on cutting taxes, fees, and red tape so builders can build and families can buy.

“Sadly, the damage is already spreading. The Building Industry and Land Development Association has warned Mark Carney’s plan will cost 100,000 jobs. In the Greater Toronto Area, housing starts were down 31 per cent last year compared to 2024.

“Liberals are recycling the same failed approach that created these problems: adding new federal housing bureaucracy that won’t speed up approvals or cut costs, leaving decisions stuck behind ministerial permission slips, and pitching temporary tax pauses when long-term solutions are needed.

“Conservatives have a real plan to tackle head-on the housing crisis:

  • Cut the GST on all new homes under $1.3M. Save families up to $65,000 and unleash new building;
  • Tie federal infrastructure dollars to homebuilding. Municipalities must permit at least 15 per cent more homebuilding each year;
  • Cut development charges by 50 per cent. The Liberals promised this during the last election campaign but have failed to deliver; and
  • End capital gains tax on reinvestments in new housing in Canada and unlock billions of dollars of investments in the country’s homebuilding sector.

“If Liberals steal these ideas and homes finally get built, Canadians win. No matter what, Conservatives will fight every day to restore our nation’s promise: safe streets, stronger take-home pay, affordable food and homes that families can finally call their own.”