Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says affordability will be the main agenda item as his cabinet meets in Prince Edward Island’s capital, Charlottetown, this week for their annual retreat ahead of the next sitting of Parliament.
It’s expected the housing crisis will be the central topic for ministers as they sit down to discuss their government’s priorities.
The prime minister drew criticism last month in Hamilton, ON when he said housing isn’t a direct federal responsibility, but couched it by adding it’s something they can and must help with.
When asked if he regretted that characterization of the issue on Monday morning, Trudeau turned his attention to the previous Conservative government.
“The point I made was that the previous government had completely walked away from housing. And we, since 2017 actually since 2015 have been making significant investments in infrastructure, including the National Housing Strategy,” Trudeau said.
“Housing is a responsibility for everyone to work together on the federal government, provincial governments, municipal governments, non-profits in the public sector as well.”
The prime minister also touted additional federal programs, like the Housing Accelerator Fund. Applications for that $4 billion program closed on August 18.
Speaking in Ottawa, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on Trudeau to adopt Tory policies to address the housing crisis.
“Yes, housing is your responsibility, Mr. Trudeau. You are the one who is to blame for doubling the cost. And you could adopt my policies, which have been clearly stated that we should speed up housing construction,” Poilievre said.
Policy proposals put out by Poilievre include tying federal infrastructure dollars for municipalities to building permits – with cuts to transfers for not increasing permits by 15 per cent and bonuses for surpassing that target.
Poilievre also says he would mandate the approval of high-rise apartments near federally funded transit hubs.
Both Poilievre and Trudeau were asked if federal immigration targets of 500,000 annually until 2025 are contributing to the housing crunch and need adjustment. Both leaders talked about the need to recruit more skilled tradespeople to Canada in order to build more homes.
However, Poilievre also accused Trudeau of trying to make people fear immigrants.
“Look, I think Justin Trudeau would love Canadians to blame immigrants for the housing crisis that he has doubled. But immigrants are just following the rules that he put in place. So how can we blame them and not him? He was the one who presided over a doubling of housing costs,” Poilievre said.
Neither leader specifically answered whether or not they think immigration targets need to change.
Housing Minister Sean Fraser told reporters ahead of the meeting that one area needing immediate attention is the explosive growth in international students recruited to Canada in recent years.
Fraser said putting a cap on those enrolments is an option, but first the government has to meet with the schools to look at what role they can play to alleviate the pressure on housing. He was careful to say not all schools are part of the problem.
“When you see stories about the exploitation of international students with some institutions, if I can be completely candid, that I’m convinced have come to exist purely to profit off the backs of vulnerable international students rather than provide quality education to the future permanent residents and citizens of Canada,” Fraser said.
He said you have to ask “some pretty tough questions” when schools that already have “five to six times as many students enrolled as they have spaces for” in student housing continue to recruit and increase enrolments.
In 2014, Canada set a target to increase international student enrolment from about 240,000 to more than 450,000 by 2022. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada reported that there were more than 807,000 international study permit holders in Canada in December.
That came after a sharp spike in permits: 541,405 new permits were issued in 2022, up 24 per cent from 2021.
Affordability focus
Trudeau has said this summer’s cabinet shuffle was meant to signal a new focus on the economy and affordability.
The authors of a recent national report on housing will be in Charlottetown to brief cabinet ministers on their findings and on what needs to be done.
The latest MLS benchmark family home price in Canada is around $757,000, with price-tags of over $1 million in Toronto and Vancouver.
The housing crunch is being felt strongly by Millennials and Generation Z, part of the younger age cohort that helped elevate the Liberals of office in 2015.
When asked if he felt he was losing these younger voters amid the cost of living crisis, Trudeau reiterated the affordability focus of this retreat.
“That’s why during this cabinet retreat, we’re rolling up our sleeves to talk about affordability, to talk about economic growth for everyone, to talk about how we’re going to solve some of the housing challenges.”
Ministers will also hear from the founder of the Generation Squeeze think tank from the University of British Columbia about ways to help young Canadians who are feeling economic despair as prices rise.
MPs will be back in the House of Commons on Sept. 18.
The cabinet comes after days of wildfires in the Northwest Territories and B.C., with that province having declared a state of emergency.
On Sunday, Trudeau said the federal government is deploying military assets to B.C. and would be helping with evacuations, staging and other logistical tasks.
With files from The Canadian Press.
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