Ottawa – The federal government should strengthen consumer mortgage protections, improve programs that increase productivity in the construction sector and beef up the supply of skilled workers to address Canada’s housing affordability crisis, a Senate committee said in an interim report released Tuesday.

The report of the Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy summarizes expert evidence to provide a firm foundation for action badly needed to address the escalating cost and scarcity of housing in Canada. The status quo is not an option: the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimates the rate of housing production will have to more than triple to meet its affordability target by 2030.

The report makes 10 recommendations. While some of these suggestions were acknowledged in the government’s 2023 Fall Economic Statement, the committee calls on federal policymakers to consider the recommendations in full — and the expert testimony underlying them — ahead of the 2024 federal budget.

Quotes

“Canada is failing to address the housing crisis. We need to accelerate the supply of homes across the country — immediately. Canadians are counting on the federal government to make that happen.”

- Senator Pamela Wallin, Chair of the committee

“The government should explore more housing solutions via the banking sector and strengthen consumer protection to ensure Canadians are being offered safe mortgage products and fair relief measures.”

- Senator Tony Loffreda, Deputy Chair of the committee

“We need to boost innovation in the housing sector and address the important challenge of labour shortages in the construction sector. To that end, the government should establish a permanent roundtable of stakeholder groups, including provincial representatives, to slash regulatory and administrative barriers.”

- Senator Diane Bellemare, member of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure

“The federal government must work with provincial and municipal governments to address the barriers that are negatively impacting the availability of housing across the country.”

- Senator Elizabeth Marshall, member of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure

Associated Links

• Read the report: Study on Housing Affordability — Interim Findings.
• Follow the committee on social media using the hashtag #BANC.
• Subscribe to email alerts for Senate committees.
• Sign up for the Senate eNewsletter.

For more information:

Jérémie Spadafora
Communications Officer | Senate of Canada
343-550-6111| jeremie.spadafora@sen.parl.gc.ca