What a Liberal Minority Means for REALTORS®

The votes have been cast and Canada has spoken: Justin Trudeau’s Liberals return to power, albeit with a much tighter leash on their ability to implement their agenda.

Minority governments are inherently fragile and Prime Minister Trudeau has indicated an intention to work with opposition parties on an issue-by-issue basis rather than form a coalition.

During the election the Liberals made several commitments related to housing and real estate. Here are some highlights from their platform:

• Fully implement the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, which provides Canadians with up to 10% off the purchase of their first home.
• Expand the Incentive to provide more help to communities in the greater Toronto, Vancouver, and Victoria regions by allowing homes valued at up to $789,000 to qualify.
• Address the impact of foreign speculation, which drives up housing costs, by putting in place a consistent national speculation and vacancy tax for non-resident, non-Canadians.
• Retrofit 1.5 million homes over the next five years by giving interested homeowners a free energy audit and interest-free loan of up to $40,000 for retrofits.
• Provide a Net Zero Homes Grant of up to $5,000 for newly built homes that are certified zero-emissions.

It’s important to note each of the major parties devoted portions of their platforms to housing commitments. While REALTORS® can claim success in surfacing these issues through our collective efforts, we must be vigilant in ensuring issues related to home buying in Canada stay front and centre in the coming weeks and months.

With it being a minority government, PAC at Home meetings will be more important than any other time in recent memory. The MP meetings that will take place in your communities will be key to establishing new relationships, cementing old ones, and ensuring what is being presented at the local levels complements the work we will undertake with stakeholders in Ottawa.

Stay tuned for more information on how you can help.