THUNDER BAY – POLITICS – And for the first time in our history, Canada recognizes that right. We also have the most ambitious plan ever in our history to sustain and create affordable housing across our country. The National Housing Strategy commits $40 billion over the next decade to create more affordable housing and help people find and stay in their homes.
Since taking office in 2015, we’ve invested more than $7 billion already in Canada’s housing sector, and helped more than 1 million Canadians find a place to call home. Now, thanks to the National Housing Strategy Act, we’re making sure that this is just the beginning, and that the federal government will be a full partner in helping more Canadians have a place to call home today and in the future. We’re enshrining the right to housing into law, making sure that even the most vulnerable in our communities are heard by the highest levels of government.
And we are helping even more middle-class Canadians. For too many first-time home buyers, house prices kept many young Canadians out of the housing market. And for ten years, Conservative politicians like Stephen Harper and Andrew Scheer did nothing to address housing affordability — pushing home ownership further out of reach and putting household debt on the rise.
That’s why we are acting now to make sure homeownership remains an achievable dream, not a privilege afforded to only the richest few. We know that for too many people working for a better future for their families, owning a home seemed like a distant dream. So we introduced the First-Time Homebuyer Incentive, which will start this September.
This new program will make home ownership more affordable for first-time buyers by allowing them to lower their monthly mortgage payments without increasing their down payment. It also means more money stays in the pockets of middle-class Canadians.
Everyone deserves a fair chance at success. And that starts with a place to call home.
Patty Hajdu
Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay-Superior North
