The federal government will be launching a $1.5-billion "Canada Rental Protection Fund" to preserve affordable rent prices across the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
The fund is the latest pledge from the federal Liberals, who are more than a week into a spending announcement blitz previewing measures that will be included in the 2024 federal budget, including a series of housing affordability loan programs and rule reforms focused on fairness for renters.
To date, the Liberals have earmarked $25 billion in new spending and loans. When asked to clarify what one of his ministers couldn't last night, the prime minister said there "are no plans to raise taxes on the middle class," to fund these budget commitments.
"We're going to continue to make fiscal responsibility at the core of what we do, even as we ensure fairness for every generation."
The prime minister wouldn't offer specifics on what the interest on these various loan offerings would be, or the deadlines to pay them back, saying more would be revealed on budget day.
"This is all about making the math work," he said.
According to the government, the fund will provide $1 billion in loans and $470 million in contributions to non-profit organizations, community housing providers, and other partners to help buy affordable rental buildings that go up for sale.
"We need more affordable housing buildings just like this one, right across the country," Trudeau said, speaking at an affordable housing complex in Winnipeg.
"Unfortunately, too many of those places are under constant threat of being demolished to build condos, or sold to speculators and large corporations that will increase rents at turnover. People are being priced out of their communities, and that's not OK so we have to help."
The Liberals are framing this fund as a step towards preserving rent prices to ensure long-term affordability for lower-income renters.
"Co-led and co-funded by the federal government and other partners, the fund will mobilize investments and financing from the charitable sector and the private sector to protect and grow affordable housing in Canada," reads a release from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) accompanying Trudeau's announcement.
Housing Minister Sean Fraser, speaking alongside Trudeau, said over the last decade Canada has lost hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units, some as a result of buildings being demolished after not being properly maintained, while others were bought by owners who renovated and "jacked up" rent, pricing tenants out.
"Here in Canada, less than four per cent of our housing stock is actually held by non-profits or governments outside of the market. By way of comparison, advanced economies around the world average about eight per cent," Fraser said.
"We have a moral obligation to make sure that everyone in this country has a roof over their head, and has a safe and affordable place to call home."
Seeking to put Trudeau's latest announcement in context, Deputy Conservative Leader Melissa Lantsman pointed to new data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) forecasting that home prices could match peak levels seen in early 2022, by 2026 while housing starts are expected to decline this year.
"The CMHC confirmed that he is only making things worse with fewer housing starts, less affordable housing, and higher rents," Lantsman said. "Trudeau's photo ops won't come anywhere close," to building the millions of homes needed," she continued in a statement.
NDP MP and housing critic Jenny Kwan called the latest pre-budget pledge "long-overdue" but a step that "falls short of what is needed to stop the loss of existing affordable rental units."
"Affordable housing is being lost 11 times faster than its being built because of unchecked rent increases across Canada," Kwan said.
Between 2016 and 2021, Canada lost 370,000 homes that rented below $1,000 per month.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) said it welcomes the idea of an affordable rental protection fund, noting it "represents a substantive response to FCM's calls ahead of Budget 2024 for a national housing acquisition fund to protect affordable housing in Canada, prevent people from falling into homelessness and shield renters from 'renoviction' practices."
That said, the organization noted in its statement that the commitment requires further analysis of the details, as they are revealed, including ensuring existing municipally-led residential purchasing initiatives are eligible to tap into this new funding.