Budget 2024: Building homes, communities, and getting major projects done

From: Department of Finance Canada

News release

June 4, 2024  - Ottawa, Ontario - Department of Finance Canada 

Budget 2024 is seizing the opportunities of today to build a Canada that works better for every generation.

First, the new $6 billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund will accelerate the construction of the infrastructure communities need to build more homes. This fund includes $1 billion to address the urgent infrastructure needs of municipalities, such as water and sewer systems, so they can build more housing. The fund also includes $5 billion to be allocated to provinces and territories that have ambitious housing plans, to support long-term infrastructure priorities. Provinces and territories can only access this $5 billion in funding if they commit to the following key actions:

  • Requiring municipalities to broadly adopt four units as-of-right and allow duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, and other multi-unit apartments;
  • Implementing a three-year freeze on increasing development charges from April 2, 2024, levels for municipalities with a population greater than 300,000;
  • Adopting forthcoming changes to the National Building Code to support more accessible, affordable, and climate-friendly housing options;
  • Requiring as-of-right construction for the government’s upcoming Housing Design Catalogue; and,
  • Implementing measures from the Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights and Renters’ Bill of Rights.

Provinces will have until January 1, 2025, to secure an agreement, and territories will have until April 1, 2025. If a province or territory does not secure an agreement by their respective deadlines, their funding allocation will be transferred to the municipal stream.

Second, in Budget 2024, the federal government is cutting red tape to get major job-creating projects done. The government is making regulatory reforms to improve efficiency of assessment processes so that more clean growth projects can get across the finish line, faster, to unlock new well-paying opportunities for Canadian workers. These reforms include:

  • Investing $9 million over three years in a Clean Growth Office, located in the centre of government at the Privy Council Office, which will implement the recommendations of the Ministerial Working Group on Regulatory Efficiency for Clean Growth Projects to reduce interdepartmental inefficiencies, ensure that new permitting deadlines are met across government, improve data sharing between departments, and reduce redundant studies;
  • Establishing a new Federal Permitting Coordinator to improve permitting for clean growth projects;
  • Setting a target of five years or less to complete federal impact assessment and permitting processes for federally designated projects, and a target of two years or less for non-federally designated projects;
  • Driving culture change to get clean growth projects built in a timely and predictable manner, by clarifying the roles and responsibilities of federal departments and agencies;
  • Improving predictability for project proponents and increasing the federal government's transparency and accountability to Canadians, by building a Federal Permitting Dashboard reporting on the status of large project permitting;
  • Setting a three-year target for nuclear project reviews, by streamlining the work of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Impact Assessment Agency of Canada by reducing overlapping roles between the two agencies; and,
  • Work to establish a Crown Consultation Coordinator to ensure efficient and meaningful Crown consultation with Indigenous Peoples on the issuance of federal regulatory permits to projects that do not undergo federal impact assessments.

Budget 2024’s transformative investments will help to build more homes in vibrant, livable, and growing communities and get more major clean growth projects across the finish line, faster, so they can keep the Canadian economy competitive and create new jobs for Canadians today — and for generations to come.

Quotes

“Our government’s plan to build nearly 4 million new homes is the most ambitious housing plan in Canadian history. To put homeownership back into reach for every generation, especially Millennials and Gen Z, we’re helping communities build more housing-enabling infrastructure. And, to create well-paying jobs that help every generation reach their full potential, we’re accelerating approvals of major projects that will grow the economy, keep Canada on track to net-zero by 2050, and increase productivity.”

– The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance

“Our housing plan is focused on solving the housing crisis, and has specific measures that will help build the homes Canadians need. One way we are going to be able to do that is through the new $6 billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund, which will help build the housing-enabling infrastructure communities rely on.”

– The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

“We can get big things built in this country. Because we've got the resources, we've got the people, and we've got the wherewithal.”

– The Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Labour and Seniors

Quick facts

  • In Budget 2024, the government is delivering fairness for every generation with a housing plan that includes nearly 4 million new homes, transformative expansions to Canada’s social safety net to make life cost less and ensure Canadians get the care they need, and investments to create good jobs and economic growth. The government’s plan for tax fairness makes these investments in younger generations possible by increasing capital gains taxes on 0.13 per cent of Canadians to generate $19.4 billion in new revenue over five years.

  • In addition to the $6 billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund, the federal government is helping growing communities build the infrastructure needed to build more homes through the Canada Community-Building Fund and the Canada Infrastructure Bank:

    • Since 2015, the Canada Community-Building Fund has provided $24.2 billion to 3,600 communities across the country. The Fund has supported important infrastructure projects to help communities across the country become more livable for generations to come, such as the revitalization of the historic downtown in Oakville, Ontario, the broadband connectivity project in the Regional District of Central Kootenay, British Columbia, and upgrades to the water system in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
    • Since 2017, the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) has made investment commitments of over $11 billion in more than 50 projects, and catalyzed over $31 billion in total investment, to address critical infrastructure gaps in communities across the country. This includes supporting improved public transit, broadband, clean power, and green infrastructure. In April, the CIB introduced its new Infrastructure for Housing Initiative, designed to improve communities’ access to the low-cost financing needed to build housing-enabling infrastructure.

  • Budget 2024 also announced that, to access long-term, predictable funding for public transit through the federal government’s forthcoming public transit fund, municipalities will be required to take action that will directly unlock housing supply. This includes measures to:

    • Eliminate all mandatory minimum parking requirements within 800 metres of a high-frequency transit line.
    • Allow high-density housing within 800 metres of a high-frequency transit line.
    • Allow high-density housing within 800 metres of post-secondary institutions.
    • Complete a Housing Needs Assessment for all communities with a population greater than 30,000.

  • In Budget 2024, the federal government is also launching the $5 billion Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program to unlock access to capital for Indigenous communities, create economic opportunities, and ensure Indigenous Peoples share in growth in a way that works for them.

  • The Ministerial Working Group on Regulatory Efficiency for Clean Growth Projects coordinates the federal government’s efforts to grow the clean economy and progress towards net-zero commitments by reforming regulatory frameworks to accelerate clean growth project approvals.

Associated links

Contacts

Media may contact:

Katherine Cuplinskas
Press Secretary and Senior Communications Advisor
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Katherine.Cuplinskas@fin.gc.ca

Media Relations
Department of Finance Canada
mediare@fin.gc.ca
613-369-4000

General enquiries

Phone: 1-833-712-2292
TTY: 613-369-3230
E-mail: financepublic-financepublique@fin.gc.ca

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