Quebec budget | Nothing to stimulate housing construction

First-time buyers who hoped that the Quebec government would put forward initiatives to stimulate housing construction will be disappointed.

In a context of rising mortgage rates, the budget is silent on measures to stimulate housing construction or residential renovation, apart from the addition of funds earmarked for the construction of social housing.

However, several organizations, including the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), have shown that the annual rate of housing starts must double to rebalance the market and make homes more affordable.

“We have a deficit of 100,000 homes in Quebec,” said Paul Cardinal, director of the economic department of the Association of Construction and Housing Professionals of Quebec (APCHQ). With the few measures that we see in the budget, this is clearly insufficient. We’re just going to exacerbate the problem. »

The APCHQ is also disappointed not to see tax credits aimed at stimulating residential renovation. “As for the rental fleet, it’s been a long time since there have been incentives to try to restore love to our rental fleet, which is aging and energy-intensive,” continues Mr. Cardinal.

“Indeed, the number of housing starts is not going in the right direction. I agree with you, agreed the Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, during the closed budget session. The 500 affordable private sector units [announced in the budget] may help with that, but 500 units won’t solve everything. I am continuing discussions with the private sector to see what will be the best way to help them if necessary.

Recently, Ontario and British Columbia presented a plan of measures to stimulate the supply of housing.

At a press conference, Finance Minister Eric Girard indicated that increasing the supply of housing is not easy to do. He pointed out that Ontario and British Columbia have faced housing shortages longer than Quebec and that the two provinces have yet to find solutions.