Housing
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s video on Canada’s housing crisis under Trudeau gov’t goes viral
From LifeSiteNews
‘Housing hell: How we got here and how we get out’ has been viewed more than four million times.
A video by Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leader Pierre Poilievre exposing the country’s housing prices and supply crisis, which a taxpayer watchdog said is being fueled by high-interest rates from bad fiscal policy by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, has reached over 4 million views.
“Something new and strange has happened in Canada. Canada is sitting on probably one of the largest housing bubbles of all times, something we haven’t seen before,” Poilievre said in his 15-minute video titled Housing hell: How we got here and how we get out.
“An entire generation of youth now say they will never be able to afford a home. This is not normal for Canada.”
Housing hell: How we got here and how we get out. pic.twitter.com/vVLsXMVM35
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) December 2, 2023
The video goes deep into Canada’s housing market and includes statistics on why it is in such a dire state. It currently has 4.2 million views on X (formerly Twitter) after it was released on December 2.
Poilievre documents in his video, using facts to back him up, that in the coming months and years “tens of thousands of Canadians could default on their mortgages” due to skyrocketing interest rates.
He noted how the “nightmare scenario” after “generations of affordable and stable Canadian home prices” means that 66% of a person’s average monthly income is to simply “make payments on the average single detached Canadian house.”
“Given that most of the remaining 34 percent of the family paycheck is taken out by taxes, there’s literally nothing left for food and recreation,” Poilievre noted.
Taxpayer watchdog says high house prices due to Trudeau’s out of ‘control’ government
Franco Terrazzano, federal director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), told LifeSiteNews that the reason house prices, along with everything else, are more expensive is due to Trudeau’s “out of control” governmental spending.
“Trudeau’s never-ending deficits and the hundreds of billions of dollars the Bank of Canada printed during the pandemic are driving up the cost of everything,” Terrazzano told LifeSiteNews.
“Life is more expensive because the cost of government is out of control.”
Terrazzano noted that governmental fiscal policy is making home prices more expensive and thus out of reach for most. He said what needs to happen is a reduction in red tape.
“Taxes and onerous government regulations are making homes more expensive,” Terrazzano told LifeSiteNews.
“If governments want to make homes more affordable, they would cut taxes and the red tape that makes it harder and more expensive to build homes.”
Terrazzano highlighted a report from the C.D. Howe Institute that shows the cost of excessive government regulations on home building.
As for Poilievre, he observed how it now would take a staggering 25 years just to save enough money to make a downpayment for a simple home in Toronto.
He continued, noting how newlyweds now on average pay $1,000 per month to rent a “single room in a townhouse that they share with two other couples.”
He also raised the issue of how 35-year-olds “live in their parent’s basements” and “rents are so high in Toronto that students live in homeless shelters.”
When it comes to middle-class workers, Poilievre emphasized how “people like nurses and carpenters now live in their vehicles.”
While housing falls primarily under provincial and municipal jurisdiction, some areas, such as interest rates, are directly influenced by the federal government.
House prices have shot up in Canada due to short supply in the market, and speculative buying and interest rates have risen to highs not seen for decades. As it stands, Canada’s interest rate sits at 5%. At this same time in 2021, interest rates were 0.25%.
This past Wednesday, the Bank of Canada decided to keep rates at 5% but did not rule out future rate increases, as it “is still concerned about risks to the outlook for inflation and remains prepared to raise the policy rate further if needed.”
Interestingly, Trudeau put out a video the same day as Poilievre that he said was to address housing challenges. This video only has 264,000 views, however.
Curiously, Poilievre made no mention of Canada’s high immigration levels, which critics say has put a strain on an already tight supply.
Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada, has been one of the only party leaders to call out high immigration levels and their effects on housing.
Trudeau’s ‘money printing’ pouring fuel on ‘inflationary fire’
According to Poilievre in his video, in the past one could save enough to buy a house by their mid-20s but said this “changed” about “eight years ago” when Trudeau came to power.
“When the government borrows and spends, it builds up the goods we buy and the interest we pay. The Trudeau government has doubled Canada’s debt, adding more debt than all prime ministers combined. Our finance minister has conceded that this deficit spending pours fuel on the inflationary fire,” Poilievre said.
He observed how excessive money printing through a banking scheme called “quantitative easing” has only benefited well-connected banking insiders and financial institutions that are awash with money.
“In recent years, the Trudeau government spending has exploded, and they’ve been borrowing more than lenders will lend. So, the Bank of Canada has started creating the cash. The money supply has therefore grown eight times faster than the economy over the last three years,” Poilievre said.
“More money bidding on fewer goods, including fewer houses, equals higher prices.”
Poilievre ended his video by stating that the “good news is housing costs were not like this before Justin Trudeau.”
“And they won’t be like this after he’s gone,” he added.
He said that the solution, besides a change in leadership, is for all levels of government to work together to cut red tape and taxes to encourage the construction of new homes.
Under Trudeau, mainly due to excessive COVID money printing, inflation has skyrocketed.
A recent report from September 5 by Statistics Canada shows food prices are rising faster than headline inflation at a rate of between 10% and 18% per year.
Earlier this year, the Bank of Canada acknowledged that Trudeau’s federal “climate change” programs, which have been deemed “extreme” by some provincial leaders, are indeed helping to fuel inflation.
A new Construction Codes Working Group will explore changes to construction codes to help address housing affordability.
As Alberta’s population continues to grow, so does the need for more housing options. That’s why the province has been working to reduce barriers and empower its housing partners to get more shovels in the ground, and get more houses built for Alberta families.
Alberta’s government continues to look at all options to build more homes. To further this work, a Construction Codes Working Group has been created to explore how Alberta’s construction codes can be improved to speed up development while still maintaining the required high quality and safety standards. The working group includes members from government, municipalities and the development community.
“We are leaving no stone unturned in our approach to increase housing options for Albertans. We have already collaborated to streamline some permitting processes, and by continuing to work together we will remove barriers standing in the way of housing options.”
“Albertans need more housing options as the population grows and it’s why we’ve been working to reduce barriers to housing construction. This working group is just another way that our government is working with housing partners and municipalities to accelerate homebuilding across the province.”
Using the expertise and experience of municipal and industry professionals, the Construction Codes Working Group will explore construction code amendments to accelerate the homebuilding process across the province and harness regulatory, municipal and industry expertise to tackle housing development complexities. Examples of code changes the working group may consider include those for secondary suites and single-stair apartments to make housing easier to build.
The Construction Codes Working Group will include representatives from Alberta’s government, the cities of Calgary and Edmonton, the Safety Codes Council, and the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) Alberta. The Safety Codes Council will ensure safety codes officers are trained on any new codes, inspections or approval processes. BILD Alberta will give insight into market conditions and development challenges.
“In the face of unprecedented population growth, we need an ‘all hands-on deck’ approach to build more homes and meet the growing demand. The Construction Codes Working Group unites experts to streamline construction processes while maintaining top safety standards. I look forward to the insights and recommendations from this working group and am confident a collaborative approach will help deliver more housing options for Calgarians.”
“The City of Edmonton is proud to be a member of the new Construction Codes Working Group. As Edmonton continues to experience unprecedented growth and an increased demand for housing, we are eager to explore new and innovative ways to streamline the development process to ensure every Edmontonian has a home.”
On May 1, Alberta formally updated its provincial building and fire codes to align with national codes and allow for improved energy efficiency in housing and small buildings, while still emphasizing consumer affordability. The Construction Codes Working Group will build on this work to address additional pressures and development challenges found in Alberta’s housing market.
“As a member of the Construction Codes Working Group, BILD Alberta is proud to support the development of solutions that balance building code requirements with housing affordability. By collaborating with key stakeholders, we aim to identify innovative, practical changes that prioritize safety, efficiency and accessibility while addressing the pressing housing needs of Albertans.”
Quick facts
- The 2023 Alberta editions of the building and fire codes and the 2020 National Energy Code for Buildings came into force on May 1, 2024.
- The creation of the Construction Codes Working Group supports the goals of Alberta’s Housing Action Plan by looking at ways to cut red tape that are creating delays in affordable construction.
- The 2024 Accessibility Design Guide that was recently released includes detailed information and context to help the public and construction industry understand and apply the provincial building code’s accessibility requirements.
Related information
Helping builders by putting an end to housing delays
Alberta’s new Stop Housing Delays online portal will allow developers, municipalities and other housing partners to report red tape and unnecessary home-building delays.
Alberta’s government is focused on ensuring Albertans have access to the housing they need, and that means working to streamline processes, cut red tape and reduce delays that are slowing housing construction down. As part of this work, government has launched a new online portal to help in these efforts.
The Stop Housing Delays online portal is now available for developers and municipal authorities to help identify areas that are preventing fast and efficient residential construction. This portal will help government identify and address barriers to building homes across the province.
“The Stop Housing Delays portal will allow Alberta’s government to hear directly from developers, municipalities and other partners on where delays are happening in the construction process. This will help identify and remove barriers, ultimately getting homes built faster and continuing Alberta’s record home-building pace.”
“Alberta’s government will continue to work with municipalities and find solutions to speed up the home-building process. The Stop Housing Delays portal will give us another tool to inform those discussions and identify areas where we can improve the pace of home building.”
Once developers, municipalities or industry partners have submitted their issue using the online form, government will collect and assess the information provided. Alberta’s government will be taking a collaborative, cross-ministry approach to ensure the appropriate departments are working together to find solutions where possible. Solutions may range from minor changes to policy reform.
Alberta’s government continues to support builders and encourage new residential housing construction by reducing red tape, incentivizing housing construction and supporting innovative strategies to build homes faster than ever.
“This webpage is an excellent opportunity to gather knowledge and further eliminate red tape. Government has been persistent in our approach of cutting red tape and removing roadblocks, and this will help to speed up residential construction. I look forward to hearing from developers and our other partners on how we can help get projects moving and Albertans in homes.”
Alberta continues to see strong housing starts and increases while other provinces across Canada are seeing a reduction in housing starts. The first half of 2024 saw 9,903 apartment unit starts in the province. This marks the highest amount in any half year in Alberta’s history, breaking the previous record of 9,750 set in 1977. Albertans will benefit from 33,577 new housing starts from January through September 2024, up 35 per cent from the same period last year. Alberta’s government remains focused on working with industry and non-profit partners to ensure that the province’s growing population has access to the housing it needs.
“This portal is a valuable tool for industry to highlight gaps, barriers and delays that may need to be prioritized and addressed by either local or provincial governments. Real solutions can only emerge through transparency, open communication and collaboration. This is an important step toward identifying the unique challenges each region and municipality faces in delivering attainable housing.”
Quick Facts
- Housing starts for January – September 2024 compared with January – September 2023
- Provincewide: 33,577 compared with 24,904 (up 35 per cent)
- Edmonton: 13,359 compared with 9,099 (up 47 per cent)
- Calgary: 17,414 compared with 14,141 (up 23 per cent)
- Lethbridge: 599 compared with 148 (up 305 per cent)
- Red Deer: 314 compared with 146 (up 115 per cent)
- Data shows Alberta had 10,699 purpose-built rentals, making up 32 per cent of all housing starts.
- Since 2019, Alberta’s government has invested almost $850 million to build more than 5,100 units and close to 900 shelter spaces. This includes projects we have committed to, that are in progress and that are complete.
- Together with its partners, Alberta’s government is supporting $9 billion in investments into affordable housing to support 25,000 additional low-income households by 2031.
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