Federal funding for provinces a step toward supporting homeownership affordability

March 26, 2026 – OTTAWA, ON – The Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) is encouraged to see the federal government acknowledge that support for the construction of market-rate housing for ownership is needed, via today’s introduction of Bill C-26, An Act to authorize certain payments to be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the purpose of improving housing supply. The bill earmarks $1.723 billion for provinces and territories to put toward measures that support housing supply and affordability for homeownership in their regions. CHBA emphasizes that strong accountability measures will be critical to ensure these funds are used effectively.

This federal announcement comes one day following the Government of Ontario’s announcement to completely remove the HST for buyers on eligible purchases of new homes for one year, using its allocation of federal funding to offset the federal GST portion – a very positive move for homeownership affordability. Like the agreement already arranged in Ontario, CHBA encourages other provinces to follow suit by ensuring their funding allocations deliver direct, measurable cost reductions for buyers of new homes, ideally through tax reduction.

“Providing funding to provinces and territories to support housing outcomes can be a positive step, but the real impact will depend on how these dollars are ultimately used,” said CHBA CEO Kevin Lee. “With no specific conditions for funding outlined thus far, it will be essential to ensure that investments directly and meaningfully improve ownership housing supply and affordability for Canadians. Removing tax can efficiently do exactly that.”

CHBA continues to stress that reducing government-imposed costs is one of the most immediate and effective ways to improve housing supply and affordability outcomes for ownership homes. Eliminating taxes on new housing, including GST/HST, remains a key priority to help increase supply and lower costs for buyers. 95% of experienced builders, polled by CHBA’s Housing Market Index survey, agreed that expanding the GST rebate from first-time buyers to all buyers would be the single fastest-acting policy the federal government could introduce. CHBA’s research with Abacus Data shows Canadians support such a measure as well.

While today’s announcement provides short-term relief, CHBA continues to underscore the need for broader, long-term policy action on homeownership affordability. Ahead of the upcoming Spring Economic Statement, CHBA continues to vehemently call for federal support that would further reduce GST across the country and to work with municipalities to reduce development charges (DCs) to fund infrastructure upgrades.

“Development charges have been a major under-recognized driver of the cost to build new housing, especially in Canada’s most challenged markets,” said Lee. “It is imperative that all levels of government step up to reduce those costs to support long-term housing affordability.”

In addition, CHBA recommends low- to no-cost measures that would support homeownership affordability, including changes to the mortgage stress test for both insured and uninsured borrowers that would enable more well-qualified buyers to purchase a home. These measures can be implemented quickly and at little to no cost, while having an immediate meaningful impact on housing supply and affordability in communities across the country.

CHBA’s full suite of recommendations to the federal government is available at affordability.ca.

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About the Canadian Home Builders’ Association

The Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) is the voice of the residential construction industry in Canada, representing some 8,500 member firms across the country. Our membership spans new home builders, renovators, developers, trade contractors, building material manufacturers and suppliers, lenders, and other professionals in the housing sector.