Remarks by the Deputy Prime Minister on growing communities and building more homes, faster

April 2, 2024 - Kitchener, ON

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Good afternoon.

It is so wonderful to be here today.

I want to start by acknowledging that we are gathered on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee Peoples.

I am so glad to be here in Kitchener today with my colleagues, Minister Filomena Tassi, MPs Valerie Bradford, Bardish Chagger, Tim Louis, and Bryan May. It is great to be here with Berry Vrbanovic, the Mayor of Kitchener, with Dorothy McCabe from Waterloo, with Jan Liggett from Cambridge, and with Karen Redman, Chair of the Waterloo Region. This is a wonderful, engaged, committed team of people who really work together and I enjoyed hanging out with them this morning. And I want to say how fun it was to tour these buildings and see the work that Maxwell Building Consultants are doing.

What you’re seeing behind me is Franklin Flats—a four-building, rental housing development in central Kitchener. The buildings are in different stages right now, with one building already finished and fully leased. When complete, this development will be a lively community for hundreds of people that’s close to transit, grocery stores, parks, and community centres. What’s special about these apartments is that they were built through collaboration with the private and not-for-profit sectors as well as all orders of government—including the federal government. We need more housing like this in Canada, and that is what I am here to talk about today.

We are living in a pivotal moment—and we have a plan to help every generation of Canadians get ahead.

Because today, many younger Canadians feel as though the deck is stacked against them. They can get a good job, they can work hard, but too often, the reward—like a home of your own—remains out of reach.

What many parents and grandparents have achieved for themselves—a degree of comfort, and security—we want for our children and grandchildren. We want their hard work to be rewarded, as it was for us.

That is why we are acting now to build a Canada that works for younger Canadians—a Canada where they can get ahead and where their hard work pays off.

First, we are going to turbocharge the construction of new homes across the country.

Second, we are going to help make life cost less.

And third, we are going to grow the economy in a way that’s shared by all.

Today, as a next step in this plan, I am announcing new measures to cut red tape and build more homes, faster.

Because the best way to ensure everyone can afford a home is to increase supply and do it quickly.

That is why I am happy to announce that we are topping up our $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund with an additional $400 million.

Since launching the Housing Accelerator Fund last year, our government has signed 179 agreements across the country—including with the City of Kitchener—to build more than 750,000 homes over the next decade.

Today’s $400 million top-up will help fast-track an additional 12,000 new homes in the next three years alone.

In Kitchener, through the Housing Accelerator Fund agreement signed last November, more than 1,200 new homes will be fast-tracked over the next three years, and more than 37,500 over the next decade. That is a real win for the people of Kitchener.

As you can see, we also have the Mayors of Waterloo and Cambridge with us, and I want to thank them and congratulate them for their Housing Accelerator Fund agreements which are also getting more homes built faster in their great communities.

We are also announcing the launch of a new, $6 billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund. This Fund will help communities build the infrastructure needed to support new housing—like water and wastewater infrastructure. This Fund will help communities keep pace with growth and build more homes for Canadians. What we’re doing is removing more barriers to increasing housing supply.

We need to keep on building more, faster and we know that the Mayors behind me need the money to build the infrastructure to keep up. That is what this Fund is going to provide.

Just last week the Canada Infrastructure Bank announced the Infrastructure for Housing Initiative. Through this Initiative, the Bank will provide low-cost financing to municipalities and Indigenous communities so they can build the infrastructure they need for more housing—like public transit and clean power systems. Because building more homes is about more than the homes themselves—it’s about creating well-planned, livable communities where people—where young people, where young families can flourish.

We need to make sure all orders of government do their part to build more homes. That is why, in order to get money from the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund, provinces and territories will need to commit to making changes that help us increase housing supply, to help us to build more homes faster.

These changes will include things like allowing “missing middle” type housing, including broadly adopting fourplexes as a right, putting a temporary freeze on development charges for cities with more than 300,000 people, and implementing measures from our new Renters’ Bill of Rights. Because no single player can fill Canada’s housing shortage alone. We need to take a “Team Canada” approach. All orders of government, private sector, not for profit, community organizations, working together to get more homes built faster.

Over the coming days, and in the April budget, we’ll launch a no‑holds‑barred plan to wrestle down the costs of owning or renting a home. To make real the promise of Canada for younger Canadians, we will pull every lever and push every button to deliver more housing without delay.

Our government first came to office with a vow to strengthen and expand the middle class. We delivered on that pledge by reducing poverty, especially for children and seniors, and creating millions of good jobs for Canadians. Our work isn’t over.

Our renewed focus today is unlocking the door to the middle class for millions of younger Canadians. In all we do, we dedicate ourselves to making a better life within reach for our younger generations. Because that is what you have earned, and it is what you deserve. And it is what your parents and grandparents want for you, too.

Thank you.