Poilievre promises to abolish federal sales tax on new homes under $1 million
The Conservatives estimate the new measure will spur construction of another 30,000 homes per year
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OTTAWA — Canada’s Conservative Party leader is banking on cutting the GST on new home sales to temper Canada’s unaffordable housing crisis.
Speaking on Monday morning from the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, Pierre Poilievre announced that, when he becomes prime minister, GST would no longer apply to new home sales sold for less than $1 million in Canada — a promise that could save new homeowners thousands.
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“The average mortgage payment has gone from $1,400 to $3,200. The needed downpayment for the average home has gone from $22,000 to $46,000. The average rent for a one-bedroom (apartment) has gone from a measly $973 to now $2,200 roughly,” Poilievre said.
“It used to take 39% of the average family’s income to make the average payment on the average home every month, back in 2015. Now, it takes 60%.”
The Tories say their tax cut will save Canadians upwards of $40,000 on the cost of an $800,000 home — around $2,200 annually — and trigger the construction of 30,000 extra homes every year.
The cost of home ownership has nearly doubled since the Trudeau Liberals took power in 2015, with owning a home now out of reach of most working-class Canadians.
Despite their efforts, Liberal attempts at improving affordability haven’t amounted to much.
Budget 2024 announced new measures, including plans to build up to 250,000 new homes on public land by 2031, permitting homes on property owned by Canada Post and the Department of National Defence, spending $1.1 billion over 10 years to convert roughly half of underutilized federal office space into homes, and adding $400 million to the housing accelerator fund.
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The Tories are also promising to do away with $8 billion in government programs which they allege haven’t built a single home.
Franco Terrazzano, federal director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, praised the announcement, saying it would save families real money when purchasing a home.
“Too often the federal government ramps up spending on housing programs that don’t work and waste taxpayers’ money,” he said.
“The best way for the federal government to make homes more affordable is to cut taxes for building homes.”
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