Remove all GST on new capital investments in affordable rental housing.
What success looks like
See below.
Government's narrative on progress
All Canadians should have a safe and affordable place to call home. The government concluded, based on research and evidence, that there were more effective ways of encouraging the construction of affordable rental housing. Budget 2016 introduced a targeted approach to stimulate the construction of affordable rental housing by providing funding to establish the Affordable Rental Housing Innovation Fund and Rental Construction Financing Initiative. Budget 2017 announced the investment of more than $11.2 billion over 11 years in various initiatives that will help build, renew and repair Canada’s affordable housing and make sure Canadians have affordable housing that meets their needs. The National Housing Strategy, launched on November 22, 2017, includes additional measures to stimulate the construction of affordable rental housing. The Rental Construction Financing Initiative offers $2.5 billion in low-cost loans to support the construction of new rental housing. Budget 2018 proposed expanding this initiative with an additional $1.25B in low-cost loan over the next three years. Through the National Housing Strategy, the federal government is re-engaging in affordable housing by investing in the growth of livable communities and the resilience of the community housing sector. To ensure existing rental housing is not lost to disrepair and to develop new, high-performing affordable housing integrated with supports and services, the federal government is creating a $15.9-billion federally managed National Housing Co-Investment Fund. The National Housing Co-Investment Fund alone is expected to create up to 60,000 new units of housing and repair up to 240,000 units of existing affordable and community housing. The Fund will consist of nearly $4.7 billion in financial contributions and $11.2 billion in low interest loans. The government’s recently announced Rental Construction Financing Initiative will be integrated into the National Housing Co-Investment Fund, as will the government’s recently created Affordable Rental Innovation Fund. Applications for the National Housing Co-Investment Fund will be accepted starting April 2018.
Note: this is the government's own description, not an independent assessment.