NDP-Liberals Must Vote With Conservatives To Axe The Sales Tax On New Homes

December 9, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ottawa, ON – Tomorrow, the NDP-Liberal government has a choice: they can either vote for a Common Sense Conservative motion that will axe the sales tax on new homes under $1 million. Or, they can vote against lowering the cost of home building and mortgage payments for Canadians.

This common sense motion will allow Canadians to save up to $50,000 for homebuyers and will spark the construction of 30,000 more houses and apartments a year. That means cheaper housing for all Canadians.  

After nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, housing has never been more expensive. Housing costs have doubled, with housing inflation rising faster than any other G7 country. Before Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister, it took only 39 percent of the median pre-tax household income to cover home ownership costs. Now, it takes nearly 60 percent. 80 percent of Canadians now tell pollsters that homeownership is only for the very rich.

This is a direct consequence of gatekeepers and regulations that adds extra costs on a price of a new home. In British Columbia and Ontario, government charges account for more than 30 percent and 35 percent of the cost of a new home, respectively. The federal government takes the biggest share. In Ontario, about 39 percent of the total taxes on a new home go to politicians and bureaucrats in Ottawa. One such tax is the GST, adding $50,000 in costs to a $1 million home. Nobody can afford this.

Canadians need relief, not more taxes. Instead of spending billions of dollars on a photo-op fund that Trudeau’s own Housing Minister admitted “doesn’t actually directly build homes,” the NDP-Liberal government should vote with Common Sense Conservatives to make housing more affordable again for working Canadians.