Remarks by the Deputy Prime Minister on Canadians opening more than 150,000 tax-free First Home Savings Accounts

October 5, 2023

Ottawa, ON

Good afternoon.

Our government is relentlessly focused on delivering for Canadians—on building more homes faster, on stabilizing prices, and on creating great careers.

And that’s what we are here today to discuss.

Earlier this year, our government introduced the new tax-free First Home Savings Account.

The tax-free First Home Savings Account allows Canadians to contribute up to $40,000 towards the purchase of their first home. That money is tax-free going in, and it’s tax-free when it is withdrawn to contribute to that first down payment.

Since we introduced the tax-free First Home Savings Account in April, it has already started to be offered by most of Canada’s major financial institutions.

And I have an announcement about it today. I am thrilled to announce that more than 150,000 Canadians have already opened their tax-free First Home Savings Account. And many more accounts are being opened every day.

This is really phenomenal take-up—it shows that hundreds of thousands of Canadians believe that they can buy their first home and they’re saving to do just that.

We also know that there is a shortage of homes for these 150,000 Canadians putting money away in a First Home Savings Account, and for those who continue to open accounts.

And that’s why we are aggressively rolling out agreements with municipalities using the $4 billion national Housing Accelerator Fund, which was announced in Budget 2022. We already have deals with London, and as you know, the Prime Minister announced a deal in Vaughan today.

These agreements are supporting municipalities that are committed to changing their zoning rules so we can get more homes built, faster. That’s what Canada needs to do, and that is what our Housing Accelerator Fund is doing.

We also know that rental apartments are essential in a Canada where everyone has a great place to call home. And we know we also need to build more rental units faster.

That’s why, last week, we announced that we were unlocking an additional $20 billion in new financing to build up to 30,000 additional rental units per year.

And last month, I introduced the Affordable Housing and Groceries Act—our government’s first piece of legislation this fall—which will remove the GST on the construction of new apartment buildings so we can get more rental units built, faster.

We are eager to get this legislation passed as quickly as possible so that more shovels can get in the ground. Today, Bill C-56 is being debated for the fifth time. Allow us to get this legislation passed. Canadians need more homes to be built faster. This legislation will do that.

This legislation also introduces important changes to the Competition Act which will help in the work of stabilizing prices. There’s really no excuse for delaying this legislation, and I hope all parties will join us in passing it.

Today, we will also be launching consultations on a further lowering of the criminal rate of interest. We cracked down on predatory lending in our spring budget by lowering the criminal rate of interest from 47 per cent to 35 per cent. Today, we are going further. This is about making sure that predatory lenders can’t trap the most vulnerable Canadians in a spiral of debt.

And today, my colleague François-Philippe will be announcing next steps to stabilize grocery prices for Canadians—as we promised we would do.

Our government is focused on delivering for Canadians.

Today’s announcements are further examples of our plan in action.

Thank you very much.