Federal government plans to lease public lands for construction through new housing strategy

Housing Minister Sean Fraser has announced what he's calling an ambitious strategy to tackle Canada's housing crisis.

Fraser said Friday the strategy — Canada's Housing Plan — will build more homes, make renting or buying a home easier and do more to support those who can't afford a place to live.

This is the Trudeau government's second national housing strategy. In 2017, it launched a 10-year housing plan aimed at building 100,000 affordable housing units and repairing 300,000 affordable housing units. Fraser said the new measures will supplement the 2017 plan.

At a news conference in Vaughn, Ont. on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government's latest effort is the "most comprehensive and ambitious housing plan ever seen in Canada."

"It's a plan to build housing, including for renters, on a scale not seen in generations. We're talking about almost 3.9 million homes by 2031."

Canada would need to build 3.1 million homes by 2030 to close the housing gap, according to a report by the parliamentary budget officer published Thursday.

Highlights of the new strategy include plans for the federal government to lease and build on underused public lands to make housing more available and affordable.

The strategy also promises a new mapping tool to track the inventory of public lands.

"Where the public interest demands maintaining ownership of public land, the federal government will maintain ownership but make land available through long-term leases to ensure that land can be used for housing," Fraser said. 

Details of the government's plans for public lands will be unveiled in Budget 2024 on April 16.

The government's latest strategy also includes a new Canada Secondary Suite Loan Program to give homeowners access to low-interest loans of up to $40,000 to allow them to add secondary suites to their homes.

To prevent speculation and ensure that houses are being used as residences for Canadians, the government will be extending its ban on ownership of residential properties by foreign investors until Jan. 1, 2027.

The government intends to increase the capital cost allowance rate for apartments from four to 10 per cent, which will boost the amount builders can write off on their taxes.

It's also extending the GST exemption on rentals to student residences built by public universities, colleges and school authorities. The measure will apply to new student residences that started construction on or after Sept. 14, 2023, and before 2031, so long as they are built before 2036.