Ottawa, ON – Scott Aitchison, Conservative Shadow Minister for Housing, issued the following statement on the agreement between the federal Liberal government and the Province of Ontario to pause the HST on new homes for one year:
“For years, Conservatives have called for the removal of the sales tax on new homes to lower costs and spur construction. Today’s announcement shows the Liberals have finally acknowledged our idea works, but a one-year tax break exclusively for Ontario is not enough.
“After ten years of the Liberals failing to address the housing crisis, this is too little, too late. The temporary measure, limited to homes bought over the next year, fails to provide the long-term certainty that builders and buyers require to make meaningful investments to increase Canada’s housing supply.
“Today’s announcement is projected to result in just 8,000 additional housing starts, one year after the Liberals promised to deliver 500,000 new homes every year. The PBO previously reported their new housing bureaucracy will build only 5,200 new homes per year, barely one per cent of the housing starts promised.
“By introducing our plan to remove the sales tax on all homes nationwide, it would spur the construction of an additional 30,000 housing starts per year, meaning cheaper homes for all Canadians.
“These Liberals created the housing crisis, and now they’re offering a temporary tax break instead of real solutions.
“Conservatives are calling on the Carney government to introduce our plan for a nationwide removal of the sales tax on all new homes under $1.3 million, permanently.”