I don’t think anyone can say the current federal government has done anything but shrugged off responsibly for housing affordability even though they campaigned on it and thrown money at the problem.
In this instance they’re just getting Canadian to tie in even more of their future financial well being into their dwellings.
The federal government will allow 30-year amortization periods on insured mortgages for certain first-time homebuyers, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Thursday.
Freeland also said the government will nearly double to $60,000 the amount first-time home buyers can withdraw from RRSPs to buy a home. That’s up from $35,000, to take effect April 16, the day the federal budget is set to be released.
Housing is the jurisdiction of the provinces. There’s limited latitude with which the Federal government can act.
They’re not using those enough, but let’s not act like it’s all the fed, and not the provinces choosing to fuck us over too.
Much of the tax system that favors using housing as a investment is from the federal level as well as the demand side. You get taxed more for building average dwelling then you would flipping a place.
At no point did I state it was entirely the federal governments fault, they’re the ones that said they would do something about it.
The levers available to the Federal Government in this area are few; the Provinces hold most of the cards when it comes to housing, and it disgusts me that all too many of my fellow Canadians have so little clue as to how the system works that they blame the Federal Government (and/or “Trudope”), while letting their Provincial leaders (the majority of which are Conservatives) off the hook.
Just today we’re seeing the Premiere of Alberta attempting to halt some of the Federal Governments deals with the municipalities to enhance housing supplies — purely because if they let the Feds provide assistance they won’t have a cudgel to hold against them anymore. It’s you don’t do enough to help and we won’t let you!
The only policy solution to the current housing woes is more housing supply. And that’s ultimately in the hands of the Provinces.
disgusts me that all too many of my fellow Canadians have so little clue as to how the system works that they blame the Federal Government
What disgust me is that every time I criticize the Conservatives people think I blindly support the Liberals and every time I criticize the Liberals people accuse me of being a Conservative supporter as if there was only 2 parties in this country. For anyone wondering we’ve had more the two parties regularly since 1921.
Also you prove yourself wrong in your next paragraph.
… little clue as to how the system works that they blame the Federal Government
Just today we’re seeing the Premiere of Alberta attempting to halt some of the Federal Governments deals with the municipalities to enhance housing supplies — purely because if they let the Feds provide assistance they won’t have a cudgel to hold against them anymore. It’s you don’t do enough to help and we won’t let you!
It’s as if higher level of government can and do interfere with thing outside of their jurisdiction.
BC: Municipalities will be forced to allow more townhomes, multiplexes and laneway homes
The only policy solution to the current housing woes is more housing supply. And that’s ultimately in the hands of the Provinces.
There will never be a supply solution as long as 99% of housing is built only for profit. We don’t even have a taxation system the favors housing development over flipping houses.
Same thing is happening in New-Brunswick, with a conservative majority.
In early November, Premier Blaine Higgs reportedly said he was considering legislation to block federal housing funding from being given directly to municipalities.
Because no help is better than Trudeau getting the credit.
https://globalnews.ca/news/10096963/premier-blaine-higgs-federal-housing-funds-moncton/
Not sure about the 30 year amortization but adding more RRSP contribution potential sounds like you are making home buying easier for the people who already have extra money.
Like was that extra 25k stopping anyone from putting a down payment on a home? If someone is able to save at least 35k let alone 60k in an rrsp, I don’t think the housing market is out of reach. It’s out of reach for the people who are being priced out of renting, eating well, and just living in general.
Yes, home buying plans are an empty ploy by governments to be able to say they’re helping prospective home owners, without introducing risk to the portfolios of retirees.
The ploy is empty because within a housing area first time buyers are generally all competing for the same units. If you help all of them, you’re not really helping anyone other than the sellers.
I think part of the reason that housing is so unaffordable is that a large portion of home owners own much more house than they need or truly desire, but they’ve lived there for 30 years, there isn’t a more appealing place to move and moving is an overwhelming task to them.
I think that if we want to convert single family detached housing into higher density, we have to build spaces that baby boomers will want to move to. And we ought to encourage (marketing) them to move, and help them through the process. By help I mean, maybe municipalities could have an office of impartial coordinators that could make sure seniors aren’t getting ripped off by scummy realtors. Programs along those lines anyway.
Time to start looking into squatters rights
