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Housing and Development Strategy Council
Housing and Development Strategy Council
To create a stable housing market that meets present and future needs, we require a strategy that engages business and government in the shared pursuit of affordable homes for all Canadians. Our economic future depends on it.
The Council
In the interest of housing availability and affordability for all Canadians, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Housing and Development Strategy Council convenes a diverse array of industry stakeholders to engage with key federal decision makers and shape policy on supply, demand, labour, and coordination across municipal, provincial, territorial and federal governments.
The Council is uniquely positioned to address industry challenges, spanning standards, regulations, energy systems, materials, supply chains, and the labour market, and to propose practical solutions that will ensure federal housing and development policies are reflective of industry realities, while also meeting ambitious targets for attracting top talent and growing our economy.
Members of the Council play an integral role in determining whether we have an economy that is both attractive for workers and investors and resilient enough to build a low-carbon future.
Policy Priorities
Competing interests will lead to new initiatives being developed in silos and without the participation of those who actually build housing. Canada’s economic future is counting on business and government working together in the shared pursuit of a home that is affordable for all Canadians.
Government must:
- Work with the private sector to better understand the barriers associated with the creation of new housing supply.
- Establish a framework for all tiers of government to address complex housing policy issues that extend beyond federal jurisdiction, such as taxes, fees, levies, and zoning restrictions.
- Designate funding for municipalities to build infrastructure that will ensure growing areas are ready for development and the cost of services is not carried by homebuyers.
- Address repeated supply chain disruptions that are putting upward pressure on construction costs.
According to Statistics Canada’s building construction price indexes, third quarter results for 2023 listed skilled labour shortages first among key factors impacting the construction sector, with construction costs for residential buildings rising 6.0% year over year. Addressing skilled labour shortages is critical to restoring affordability.
Government must:
- Ensure Canada’s ambitious immigration targets reflect labour needs in Canada’s home building sector by prioritizing candidates in the skilled trades.
- Create the incentives and supports to spur domestic development of the skills required to build the homes Canadians need.
Building the additional 3.5 million new homes needed by 2030 will not be possible without significant action that acknowledges Canada is in a housing crisis. An ambitious undertaking of that scale will require legislation and regulation that unlocks industry’s ability to create the housing Canada needs.
Government must:
- Expand the GST removal on purpose-built rental housing to projects currently under construction that are no longer viable due to interest rate increases, a shortage of skilled labour, and lack of supply for materials.
- Allows for deferral of capital gains on real estate investments when funds are reinvested in like-kind properties, as with a U.S. 1031 Exchange.
- Reduce long permitting times that create additional carrying costs and disincentivize development.
Co-Chairs
Adria Minsky
Mattamy Homes
Curtis Neeser
Beedie
For more information on the Housing and Development Council, please contact Pascal Chan, Senior Director, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction.
Updates
Sean Henry, host of Daybreak Montreal, speaks with Adam Martelli, Director of Residential Real Estate Development at Broccolini, and member of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Housing and Development Strategy Council, on the topic of $15 billion of federal money being allocated for new rental developments. Listen now.
Angela Kokott interviews Housing and Development Strategy Council lead, Pascal Chan, Senior Director, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction, on 630 CHED Afternoons. Listen now.
Pascal Chan, Senior Director, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction, and The Canadian Chamber’s Housing and Development Strategy Council lead, Pascal Chan, joins Brian Crombie for The Brian Crombie Hour to discuss housing affordability in The Greater Toronto area. Watch now.
Linking immigration to the housing shortage may be missing the problem, experts say, article in CBC. Read more.
Politicians’ grand housing visions forget to involve folks who actually build homes, op-ed in The Globe and Mail. Read more.
Members
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