In an announcement meant to tackle Canada’s growing housing crisis, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau re-introduced funding that was already allocated towards — and factored into — the current housing supply shortage.
Trudeau made the announcement in London, Ontario, alongside Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Sean Fraser.
The Prime Minister’s housing announcement was simply a re-introduction of the Housing Accelerator Fund that was earmarked in his party’s 2022 budget. He said London is the first city that would see parts of this funding.
In June 2022, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) included this funding in their assessment when sounding alarm bells and warning the feds that an additional 3.5 million units would need to be built by 2030 to restore housing affordability.
After his announcement on Wednesday, a reporter asked Trudeau why he wasn’t introducing anything new.
“The Accelerator Fund is factored into the calculations from your own federal agency that says Canada is short 3.5 million homes by 2030 … will your government set out a plan that fills that gap entirely?”
Trudeau punted on the question, saying it’s a solution that will take many years, before adding that he will have “more to announce in the coming days.”
Immigration a cause
In 2022, a report given to Trudeau, uncovered by The Counter Signal, indicated that the Prime Minister’s immigration policy was a significant part of the housing crisis.
Five months after digesting the report, Trudeau released his 2023-2025 immigration targets, which not only disregarded the warning given to him but instead accelerated the rate of immigration.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford also blamed the province’s escalating housing crisis on Trudeau’s mass immigration policy.
Trudeau takes credit
Since Trudeau assumed office in 2015, Canada’s housing crisis has consistently deteriorated. Currently, the average home price stands at 8.9 times the median household income, exacerbating the existing housing supply shortage.
On July 31, Trudeau said he would try to help the housing situation but said “I’ll be blunt as well — housing isn’t a primary federal responsibility. It’s not something that we have direct carriage of.”
But the PM backtracked three weeks later — and even took credit for Canada’s current situation. He claimed he’s done more than former Prime Minister Stephen Harper ever did to make housing affordable for Canadians.
