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OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre upped the ante on his signature housing proposal on Tuesday, promising to get rid of the GST on new homes sold for up to $1.3 million if he wins next month’s federal election.
Poilievre said in a video announcement that the measure was needed to allow middle-class Canadians who happen to live in pricey markets like Vancouver and Toronto to set down roots.
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“(Prime Minister Mark) Carney just doesn’t understand that Canadians can no longer afford to live in towns and cities they grew up in,” said Poilievre.
Poilieve said that the GST cut will save homebuyers up to $65,000.
The Conservative Leader said in October that he’d cut the GST on new homes sold for under $1 million dollars.
Carney matched this number last week, rolling out a near-identical GST cut for first-time home buyers on homes sold at or under $1 million.
Poilieve was quick to point out the similarities, accusing Carney of stealing the idea.
“Only months ago, Liberals voted unanimously against my idea of taking the GST off new homes,” tweeted Poilievre shortly after Carney’s housing announcement.
“Now—a few days before calling an election — they plagiarize me again.”
Carney has been accused of lifting other Conservative policies, such as eliminating the consumer carbon tax and scheduled capital gains tax increase, as he pushes the Liberals toward the centre of the political spectrum.
But Poilievre said on Tuesday that a million dollars is no longer enough to afford a decent home in several Canadian markets.
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The median housing price in the Greater Vancouver Area was $1,224,858 in February, according to personal finance encyclopedia WOWA. The median price in Greater Toronto was $1,073,900
Poilieve said he’d pay for the GST cut by axing “bureaucratic” Liberal housing programs like the $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund.
He also said the homebuyers tax cut will spur the construction of 36,000 new homes each year.
Chris Spoke, a Toronto-based real estate developer and housing advocate, says that Poilievre’s announcement is a good start, but it doesn’t undo the restrictions at lower levels of government that disincentivize home building.
“Housing starts are collapsing in large parts of the country, including Ontario, and especially in Toronto. This is due to restrictive land use rules, Byzantine approvals processes, and high tax burdens,” said Spoke.
“Eliminating the GST on new homes up to $1.3-million will certainly help at the margin in getting more housing built.”
National Post
rmohamed@postmedia.com
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