Canada: Canada plans to decrease the housing shortage by leasing public land to developers for the construction of cheap houses under a plan revealed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which aims to build nearly four million homes by 2031.
Justin Trudeau, in a statement to reporters, said: "It is a plan that is actually going to make a difference in the lives of Canadians." It is essential to mention that the plan requires an investment of nearly two trillion Canadian dollars.
Over the last few weeks the Liberals have been rolling out a series of new commitments aimed at younger Canadians who are having a hard time entering the housing market. Those pledges are included in this new national housing plan, as are a series of new policy ideas.
The Canadian Minister for Housing, Infrastructure and Community, Sean Fraser, said in a presser earlier, "In order to build more homes faster, we need to change how we build homes in Canada. We are going to take the idea of a housing catalogue, which we used the last time Canada faced a housing crisis, and bring it into the 21st century. This is going to help accelerate future developments and tap into new and innovative construction methods that will make a real difference in building communities across Canada."
Public land
Currently, the Canadian government thinks the public land needs to be appropriately utilised, and much more can be made up from the land; in recent times, the land potentially includes abandoned industrial parks, sites of perished government companies and schools with low enrolment.
On the other hand, it is pertinent to mention that the current aim of the Canadian government to build nearly 3.9 million houses in Canada still falls short because the current need is almost 5.3 million houses in Canada in order to bid farewell to the housing crisis in the region.
The plan still falls 1.2 million units short of what is needed from 2023 to 2030, according to national housing agency Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp, according to Reuters.
Mike Moffatt from the Task Force for Housing and Climate, is quoted by another international platform saying: "Builders and other stakeholders would need to invest close to C$2 trillion ($1.5 trillion) to achieve the government's 3.9 million homes target. We are going to need to see more on the math, and we will need to see more on (the cost) in the budget. But I think overall, we have seen some pretty significant reforms in today's package."
Canada's housing crisis is majorly affected by the immigration policies imposed by the government. However, the Canadian government has also decreased the quota of international students coming to Canada to study, but it needs to be handled.
To prevent speculation and ensure that houses are being used as residences for Canadians, the government will be extending its ban on ownership of residential properties by foreign investors until Jan. 1, 2027