2021 Election Housing Platforms

Liberal - Released on August 24, the Liberals envision a 3-part Housing Plan to unlock home ownership, build more homes, and protect home buyer rights.

They propose measures to boost housing inventory to bring prices down, enforce transparency to end bidding wars, and increase affordable housing access for Canadians.

Here are the main points of the 2021 Liberal Housing Plan:

• Introduce a tax-free First Home Savings Account to help 40-and-under Canadians save up to $40K for a down payment
• Change the First Time Home Buyers Incentive to include the choice of a deferred mortgage loan
• Double the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit to $1500 to help with closing costs
• Reduce CMHC insurance by 25%, saving $6100 on average
• Increase CMHC cut-off from $1M to $1.25M to better reflect today's higher home prices
• Ban new foreign home ownership for 2 years
• Curb excess profits of large corporate owners, speculators and house flippers
• Introduce a Home Buyer's Bill of Rights to ban blind bids, increase sale-price and participant transparency, ensure home inspection rights, and add mortgage deferrals for job losses (among other details)
• Build, preserve or repair 1.4B homes in next 4 years
• Convert empty office space and provide $4B for cities to speed up construction
• Develop safe and affordable Indigenous Housing Strategy
• Commit $1B in loans and grants to develop rent-to-own partnerships

Read the full Liberal 2021 Housing Plan here

Conservative - Released the week of August 20, the Conservatives propose a plan to increase housing supply within the next 3 years, make mortgages more affordable, root out corrupt activity that can drive up real estate prices, and increase ownership transparency.

Here are the main points of the 2021 Conservative Housing Plan:

• Encourage 7 to 10-year mortgages to provide stability and reduce need for mortgage stress-tests
• Remove stress-test requirements when renewing mortgages with another lender
• Change stress-test parameters for small business owners, contractors and casual workers
• Adjust mortgage insurance eligibility to open up high-priced markets for those with less than 20% down payment
• No capital gains tax on sale of principal residence
• Develop autonomous Indigenous Housing Strategy
• Identify and halt money-laundering in real-estate markets
• Establish beneficial ownership registry to increase transparency
• Ban foreign investors not living in or moving to Canada for 2 years, but encourage foreign investment in affordable rental housing
• Release 15% of federal property for affordable housing

Read the full Conservative 2021 Housing Plan here

New Democratic Party (NDP) - Released the week of August 20, the NDP envision creating more affordable housing through added rental units, along with other measures to increase home affordability, spurn foreign investing, and increase transparency.

Here are the main points of the 2021 NDP Housing Plan:

• Build, renovate and preserve 1.7M homes over next 4 years
• Create 500K new affordable housing units within 10 years
• Bring back 30-year terms for first-time, CMHC mortgages
• Waive federal GST/HST on construction of new rental units
• Double Home Buyer's Tax Credit to $1500 to help with closing costs
• Place a 20% foreign home buyer's tax on sales to those who aren't Canadian residents
• Fund a co-developed Indigenous Housing Strategy
• Facilitate co-housing agreements that allow access to CMHC mortgages
• Establish beneficial ownership registry for increased transparency and to report suspicious transactions to fight money laundering
• Convert under-used federal property into accessible housing
• Provide rent relief for families struggling financially
• Make energy-efficient home improvements through low-interest loans

Read the full NDP 2021 Housing Plan here

The Green Party of Canada - Released the week of September 7, the Green Party resolves to redefine and reinvest in affordable housing, implement better housing standards, and strengthen regulations to curtail foreign investment and predatory real estate practices.

• Build or acquire 50K supportive housing units and 300K affordable non-profit housing over 10 years
• Redefine the federal affordable housing formula to reflect current issues and regional variations
• Expand Rapid Housing Initiative to quickly bring in quality affordable housing
• Create a residential arrears assistance program
• Establish a national moratorium on evictions
• Raise the federal 'empty home tax' for foreign and corporate owners who leave units vacant
• Close tax haven loopholes to prevent foreign investors from hiding names
• Refocus CMHC core mandate to support non-market housing, versus helping lenders de-risk in providing individual home ownership
• Change Home Renovation Tax Credit to $10K per person (instead of per household) to allow more homeowners to 'age in place'
• Ensure Indigenous access to housing through investment and redefined regulations
• Implement green retrofit of existing residential buildings

Read the Green Party Election Platform here

People's Party of Canada - Released in August, the People's Party of Canada aims to correct the mismatch between housing supply and demand through policies that target inflationary pressures, and significantly reduce immigration quotas and social housing policies.

• Substantially reduce immigration quotas to reduce housing demand, especially in large cities
• Modify the Bank of Canada's inflation target from 2% to 0% to cool down heated markets
• Stop funding social housing which unfairly competes with private developers
• Privatize or dismantle the CMHC to discourage housing debt
• Work with provinces to curb speculation and money laundering by foreign non-resident buyers

Read the People's Party of Canada Housing Plan here

Bloc Québécois - Released in August, the Bloc Québécois propose to reduce the housing crisis and increase access for more diverse family situations, through policies such as predictable investment in affordable housing, curbing speculation and a reform on homeownership policies.

• Reinvest in affordable housing, using up to 1% of annual revenues to ensure predictable funding
• Reduce housing crisis by devoting surplus federal properties to social and community housing
• Introduce tax on real estate speculation to curb artificial market increases
• Reorganize the National Housing Strategy to create a national acquisition fund
• Ensure that Québec receives a fair share of unconditional homeless program funding
• Secure the federal pandemic-related funding provided to Québec for homelessness as permanent

Read the Bloc Québécois Election Platform here (in French)

We've got this — amid all these potential changes, we'll keep you informed on the impact for your mortgage needs.

"It doesn't really matter where you fit on the housing spectrum, housing is in a state of crisis in this country," said Jeff Morrison, executive director of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association.
- CBC News, Nick Biosvert, Aug. 19, 2021

The changes and initiatives proposed so far by our federal parties are many, not few!

At True North Mortgage, our crazy-good mortgage brokers are staying on top of the promises and potential changes, and are ready when you are to advise on your best mortgage strategy.

Stay tuned for more updates as Election Day approaches. Make sure to get out and vote on September 20. We'll see you there!