Remarks by the Deputy Prime Minister on how Canada’s economic plan is building more rental homes, faster in Victoria

March 11, 2024 — Victoria, British Columbia 

Good afternoon, everyone.

I’d like to acknowledge the Lekwungen-speaking Peoples on whose traditional territory we are gathered today, the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ Peoples, whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

I am so glad to be here in Victoria today with our friends from Townline Homes. It’s been exciting to see our government’s plan in action, and to see the incredible work that’s been done here at Hudson House—which is a beautiful new apartment building right in the heart of incredible downtown Victoria. 

Before saying a few more things about housing, I’d like to highlight some encouraging economic news.

Inflation in Canada fell to 2.9 per cent in January. That’s down from 3.4 per cent the month before and down from its peak of 8.1 per cent. This is real progress and a return to the Bank of Canada’s target range. That’s great news for all of us, including the people responsible for this apartment building, people who are trying to get the financing to build more homes, faster.

Thanks to the hard work of Canadians and Canadian businesses, Canada added 41,000 jobs in February. That was more than double market expectations.

Today, 1.2 million more Canadians are working compared to before the pandemic.

Wage growth has outpaced inflation for the past 12 months—for the past year. Real wages—that means wages after accounting for inflation—are now higher than they were just before the pandemic.

Real GDP grew 1.1 per cent last year—that’s more than triple what was forecast, and it means that last year, we avoided the recession that many had thought was inevitable.

Private sector economists are now predicting that Canada will have a soft landing from all of the incredible and wrenching turbulence of COVID and what followed. 

And last Friday, DBRS reaffirmed Canada’s AAA credit rating with a stable outlook. That is a powerful proof point of our government’s fiscally responsible approach.

All of this is progress. But we all know that so many Canadians, so many people here in BC, are still struggling to make ends meet, they’re struggling to juggle their bills at the end of the month, they’re struggling to find a nice affordable place to rent, or to buy that first home, and they’re struggling to feel confident about their future.

That’s why we know that we have a lot more work to do to help unlock a brighter future for everyone in our amazing country, and in this beautiful province.

And that’s why our government is working every single day to build more homes faster, and to make life more affordable for Canadians and their families.

And that is where Hudson House comes in.

There are 245 rental homes at Hudson House, and 227 of these homes are for people with low and middle incomes. There are also 39 specially designed accessible units for persons with disabilities. And people are living here right now.

Hudson House is a great place to live, with thoughtfully designed apartments and great amenities for residents and their families to enjoy, including a clubhouse, a gym, and a picnic area.

It’s a wonderful example of what a great purpose-built rental looks like—a real community that enhances the quality of life for its residents.

And that’s why I’m so glad that our government supported the construction of these apartments with a $100 million investment through the Apartment Construction Loan Program.

The Apartment Construction Loan Program is an essential source of support for purpose-built rental homes across Canada. We topped it up with $15 billion in the Fall Economic Statement, for a total of more than $40 billion in loan funding, because this is a program that makes the math work for builders—like the people who built this great apartment building—and it makes it possible for builders to build purpose-built rental communities like this one.

We’re seeing right now what that federal government money can do, what that money is already doing here in Victoria—and across Canada.

In fact, the Program has supported two more rental buildings nearby—one is just a few blocks away on Fort Street, called Sawyer Block, which has 60 rental apartments. And the other is in Cook Street Village, with 47 rental apartments. Our government invested over $34 million for those two buildings, and families are living there right now.  

Through the Apartment Construction Loan Program, we will also be offering low-cost loans to post-secondary institutions—like the University of Victoria, the University of British Columbia, and Simon Fraser University, so that they can build more student housing on- and off-campus. This will help more students to find housing they can afford close to where they study, and at the same time, it will mean that there are more homes available for those who live in those same communities year-round.

We’re building more rental homes across BC, too—last month, the Prime Minister announced that our government is working with Premier Eby to build a minimum of 8,000 to 10,000 new homes through the BC Builds initiative. Our government is investing $2 billion in this initiative through the Apartment Construction Loan Program.

That is a significant contribution from the federal government that will get those homes through BC Builds built faster.

I’m looking forward to seeing Premier Eby later this afternoon and I’m sure we’re going to be talking about how we can work together to build more homes, faster, and to make housing more affordable for people here in BC.

The Premier and his government are doing really ambitious and exciting things on housing, and I’m looking forward to continuing a really constructive collaboration in that space.

The homes here at Hudson House are exactly the kind of housing that Victoria needs and that all of Canada needs.

Our government knows this—and that is why our economic plan is focused on taking real, concrete action to build more homes, faster.

And it’s why we are lifting the GST on new rental construction to remove barriers to building more homes.

We’re cracking down on foreign ownership of Canadian housing.

We’re cracking down on short-term rentals, which have been keeping tens of thousands of homes off the market, particularly in cities like Victoria and Vancouver, where the housing challenge is most acute. 

And we’ve signed a number of agreements with municipalities across the country through the Housing Accelerator Fund, including with the City of Victoria, the City of Campbell River, and the Town of Comox. These agreements will help cut red tape and increase Canada’s housing supply.

The Housing Accelerator Fund deals that we have done with BC municipalities alone will lead to the construction of nearly 120,000 new homes here in BC. That is moving the dial significantly, and I really want to thank the leaders of municipalities across BC who have been working so constructively with our government to make that happen.

Here on the Island, through the Housing Accelerator Fund agreements alone, more than 900 new homes will be fast-tracked over the next three years, and more than 16,000 over the next decade. That is a real win for people across the Island.

Our government is working hard every day to deliver for the people of Victoria, for the people of BC, and for Canadians from coast to coast to coast. And the great apartments that I saw in this building are a wonderful example of our economic plan in action.

So, I do want to thank everyone who worked so hard to build these apartments. I’m looking forward to you guys building even more homes, faster, here in Victoria and across BC.

Thank you very much.