Canada’s Housing Plan Announced

On April 12, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada’s Housing Plan, which provides details of the housing funding that will be in the Federal Budget that will be released April 16.

Video of the full news release can be seen here

Details of the Housing Plan are available here

The Canadian Housing and Renewal Association has analysed the Housing Plan, detailing what it means for the community housing sector.

Highlights that are most relevant to Manitoba’s Non-Profit Housing Sector include:

• An additional $1b towards the Affordable Housing Fund (previously the Co-Investment Fund), which will offset the impact of higher interest rates and construction costs
• A new $1.5b Canada Rental Protection Fund ($1b in loans and $470m in grants) to help community housing providers secure affordable rental units that are at risk of being sold to investors. Since Manitoba announced a $6m acquisition fund in this budget, it may be an opportunity for Manitoba non-profits to acquire existing rental housing. We can look to Nova Scotia, British Columbia, The City of Toronto for inspiration, and the proposed Canadian Housing Acquisition Fund which is advocating for a sector-led solution due to the immense success of British Columbia’s model
• The $1.5 billion Co-operative Housing Development Program, previously announced in budget 2022, should start this Summer, 2024
• The federal government is removing GST from new rental apartment construction projects
• Launching a $6 billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund to support the construction and upgrading of critical housing infrastructure, including water and waste management