(Ottawa) Housing Minister Sean Fraser is urging provinces to put aside jurisdictional disputes to “ambitiously” tackle the housing crisis. The economic vitality of all regions of the country depends on it, maintains Mr. Fraser, who has just unveiled an ambitious plan aimed at accelerating the construction of housing.
In an interview given to The PressMr. Fraser stressed that the housing crisis not only has serious consequences for Canadians who cannot afford housing, but also increasingly harms the capacity of businesses established in cities, large and small, to attract and retain qualified labor.
Hence the importance, according to him, of seeing Ottawa, the provinces and the municipalities work in a concerted manner to overcome this crisis which has created “a deficit of hope” among millennials and generation Z, a- he insisted.
“The housing crisis is hitting us on several fronts. This has an obvious impact on people. (…) But it also has an impact on communities. This creates a sort of bottleneck that collectively reduces our economic production and our productivity. There are other factors that explain our productivity problems. But the housing crisis certainly puts a face to this problem,” explained Minister Fraser.
He noted that Canada has many strengths – abundant natural resources, the greenest electricity generation network in the world, free trade agreements with all G7 countries and a highly educated workforce. – which offer it enormous economic growth potential.
But when a talented person doesn’t move to a city, that’s talent lost and our economy suffers. And when people pay a disproportionate portion of their income for housing, they can’t support local businesses as much. There is definitely a ripple effect.
Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing
“There are people who decide not to take on a job challenge not because of the quality of this job, but because of the cost of rent that is too high in a city. There are young people who not only have to forget their dream of buying their first house where they could raise their family, but wonder if they will be able to keep the apartment they have today,” he said. he also lamented.
Billions in investments
The Trudeau government has demonstrated its good faith by putting billions of dollars in investments on the table. The provinces, according to him, must do the same by agreeing to do things differently.
The housing crisis will be one of the main themes of the federal budget tabled today by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. In an unprecedented gesture, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and some of his ministers crisscrossed the country to gradually announce some of the measures that will be included in the federal budget.
Last Friday, Mr. Trudeau and Minister Fraser unveiled a plan to build more housing faster. Under this plan, Ottawa plans to build 3.87 million new housing units by 2031, 2 million more units than forecast by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Some of the proposed measures, notably the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund which has a budget of $6 billion, have raised eyebrows in the provinces because Ottawa is imposing conditions. Quebec denounced a new encroachment on provincial jurisdiction and demanded a right of withdrawal with full financial compensation.
Other provinces have also expressed their dissatisfaction, notably Ontario, Alberta and New Brunswick. In Alberta, we plan to take inspiration from Quebec by adopting a law that will prohibit municipalities from entering into financing agreements directly with the provincial government.
“It is clear that we must work with our provincial partners if we want to maximize our chances of meeting this challenge successfully. The federal government can show leadership. We can control certain things that are within our skills. The federal government can provide incentives by putting money on the table for the provinces and territories. But we need partners at the table,” agreed Minister Fraser.
“We are going through a housing crisis. And we must live up to what is required to tackle this crisis. Now is certainly not the time for half-measures. Everyone must row in the same direction. We cannot be satisfied with making a little progress. We must ask everyone to work hard to overcome this crisis,” he also argued.
reference: www.lapresse.ca