Review prices in high-priced housing markets and consider all policy tools that could keep home ownership within reach for more Canadians.

What success looks like

Federal policy tools are employed to help keep home ownership within reach for more Canadians.

Government's narrative on progress

To help make homeownership more affordable for first-time home buyers, Budget 2019 introduces the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive. The Incentive would allow eligible first-time home buyers who have the minimum down payment for an insured mortgage to apply to finance a portion of their home purchase through a shared equity mortgage with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). CMHC would provide up to $1.25 billion over three years (starting in 2019–20) to eligible home buyers. It is expected that approximately 100,000 first-time home buyers would be able to benefit from the Incentive over the next three years. To provide more affordable rental options for middle class Canadians, Budget 2019 provides an additional $10 billion over nine years in financing through the Rental Construction Financing Initiative, extending the program until 2027–28. With this increase, the program would support 42,500 new units across Canada, particularly in areas of low rental supply. To help municipalities grow housing supply and unlock new solutions for Canadians searching for an affordable place to call home, Budget 2019 also proposes to provide $300 million to launch a new Housing Supply Challenge. The Housing Supply Challenge will invite municipalities and other stakeholder groups across Canada to propose new ways to break down barriers that limit the creation of new housing. Infrastructure Canada and CMHC will collaborate on the design of the challenge. The government has also committed to work with British Columbia to establish an Expert Panel on the Future of Housing Supply and Affordability. The Expert Panel will consult with stakeholders to identify and evaluate measures that could build on recent investments and initiatives to increase the supply of housing in British Columbia to meet demand. CMHC will invest $4 million over two years to support the Panel’s work, and $5 million over two years for state-of-the-art housing supply modelling and related data collection.

Note: this is the government's own description, not an independent assessment.