Conservatives Promise to Remove GST on New Homes under $1M 

The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) announced, should they be elected, their plan to remove the GST on new homes with a purchase price under $1 million. CHBA has been advocating for years with all major parties for a change to GST thresholds and is encouraged that this policy addresses what has been a major contributor to affordability challenges when buying a new home. To pay for this policy, the CPC proposes removing some current federal infrastructure spending which is conditional on municipalities improving their policies and processes. Given the importance of housing-supportive infrastructure funding and the need to eliminate barriers preventing supply at the municipal level, it will be important that the CPC continues to roll out its platform with plans to address those housing affordability and supply issues too, which it has alluded to in previous commentary on its intentions. CHBA regularly engages with representatives from CPC Leader Pierre Poilievre’s office on issues important to CHBA membership and will continue to push industry recommendations to the forefront.

CHBA Submitting Concerns Through Vacant Land Tax Consultation     
The federal government has launched a consultation into a proposed vacant land tax. This was first mentioned in Budget 2024 in April where CHBA expressed serious concerns to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Housing. In part due to CHBA advocacy, it now appears that the federal government has walked back its intention to bring about a federal tax and is now asking provinces and municipalities if this potential tax is something they would like to introduce themselves (given this is where the “landbanking” accusations stem from), with federal funding to support implementation. CHBA will continue to express member’s serious concerns over such a tax at the highest levels and will be submitting to the consultation. CHBA has also been engaged with local and provincial HBAs asking them to consider writing to their provincial or municipal governments to discourage them from endorsing this tax. 

CHBA CEO Kevin Lee Appears Before House of Commons Committee

CHBA CEO Kevin Lee appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA), bringing key CHBA messaging to parliamentarians. HUMA is studying Advancements in Home Building Technologies and invited Lee to testify based on how CHBA’s Sector Transition Strategy speaks directly to the Committee’s study. Lee outlined to the committee members the Strategy’s comprehensive recommendations to transform the home building sector to make better use of factory-built home technology to improve productivity. Lee also highlighted barriers at the municipal level in terms of zoning, by-laws, site plan rules all of which prevent scaling technology, house plans, and investments. Members can watch clips from the appearance here.

Webinar: Renovation Outlook for 2025 and Beyond

DECEMBER 11 @ 1:00PM ET 
How will you position your renovation business for success in 2025 and beyond? Join us on Wednesday, December 11th at 1-2pm EST to uncover essential economic and market trends that will shape the renovation industry in the future. You will also learn how CHBA is advocating for renovators with the federal government, including recent renovation ‘wins’ and new strategies to garner support. This webinar is designed to provide renovators with actionable insights and growth strategies to boost your business. Register here. 

Builder Sentiment Keeps Declining in Q3 

CHBA’s Q3 Housing Market Index (HMI) indicates that builder sentiment across the country continued to decline in the third quarter of 2024, with Ontario and British Columbia in particularly dire circumstances. Both the single-family and multi-family indexes are approaching the record lows seen in Q3 2023. While lower interest rates and other policy measures being implemented should eventually help increase sales activity, fixed-rate mortgages – the most popular mortgage product in Canada – have not yet gone down enough to impactfully improve affordability and result in more sales activity. CHBA continues to advocate for a continued and increased multi-pronged approach to effectively help affordability challenges caused by Canada’s chronic lack of housing supply, which should include monetary and macroprudential policy easing in addition to other housing policy measures at all levels of government to facilitate building the homes needed to close the supply gap. Read more about the 2024 Q3 HMI here. 

Fall Public Review for the 2025 Code Cycle

The current public review for the 2025 code cycle is open and the deadline to submit comments is December 19, 2024. CHBA members are encouraged to help shape future codes by providing comments. The Proposed Change Forms (PCF) are available on the Canadian Board for Harmonized Construction Codes (CBHCC) website. There are two key proposals that are being resubmitted because substantive comments in earlier public reviews – including many from CHBA – have led to significant revisions: 

• PCF 1823 now provides more granularity when limiting the maximum solar heat gain coefficient for windows,
• PCF 2026 now aligns the prescriptive requirements for operational greenhouse gas emissions with the point trade-off system for energy efficiency.

There is also a third PCF that will have a major impact on the installation of doors and windows:

• PCF 1950 clarifies the requirements for protection from precipitation of rough opening sills for windows and doors by extending the second plane of protection, in combination with PCF 1951 which allows for reduction of insulation levels to allow for water drainage.

Additionally, there is an ad-hoc public review scheduled for January 2025 to cover the following PCF:

• PCF 2061 which adds a maximum safe indoor air temperature to address overheating in new dwelling units will be extensively revised. 

As these proposals will significantly impact the residential construction industry, visit CHBA’s webinar page if you want to learn more about how these PCFs were originally proposed. For more information or if you want CHBA staff to include your comments in our submission, please contact Frank Lohmann, Jack Mantyla or Alex Bols.