2024 Fall Economic Statement: Making it easier for homeowners to build secondary suites

News release

December 10, 2024 - Ottawa, Ontario - Department of Finance Canada

By making it easier for homeowners to add secondary suites to their existing homes, we can build the supply of homes Canada needs to make housing more affordable for every generation. 

Today, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, announced the 2024 Fall Economic Statement will double the loan limit for the Canada Secondary Suite Loan Program to $80,000, and launch the program in early 2025. This will make it easier for homeowners to convert an unused basement into a rental apartment or a garage into a laneway home to increase density in our communities.

By doubling the loan limit from $40,000 to $80,000, more homeowners will be able to access the low-interest financing they need to add a secondary suite to their home. This will make it cheaper for homeowners to do so through 15-year loan terms at a low-interest rate of just 2 per cent.

In addition to the Secondary Suite Loan Program, homeowners will also be able to refinance with insured mortgages to help cover the cost of adding a secondary suite, starting January 15, 2025. Specifically, lenders and insurers will begin allowing mortgage refinancing of up to 90 per cent of the post-renovation value of their home up to $2 million, amortized over a period of up to 30 years. Homeowners will be able to make use of both the loan program and mortgage financing to help cover the cost of adding a secondary suite.

Beyond helping homeowners increase Canada’s supply of rental housing, we’re also making the boldest mortgage reforms in decades to unlock homeownership for Canadians. Starting December 15, 2024, new mortgage rules will lower downpayment requirements for homes valued between $1 million and $1.5 million, and expand the availability of 30-year amortizations to reduce monthly mortgage payments for all first-time home buyers and all purchasers of new builds.

This is just one of many measures in the 2024 Fall Economic Statement to build more homes, faster. Alongside further investments in our ambitious housing plan, we’re also putting more money in Canadians’ pockets and investing in innovation, productivity, and power generation, to ensure Canadians have good-paying job opportunities that help them get ahead.

Quotes

“Our government already has the most ambitious housing plan in Canadian history—a plan to build 4 million homes. In the forthcoming Fall Economic Statement, alongside doing more to build the homes Canadians need, faster, we’re making further investments to put more money in Canadians’ pockets, grow the economy, and create more good-paying jobs. And we are doing this in a way that maintains Canada’s G7 leadership in fiscal responsibility.” 

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

“By providing low cost loans for homeowners to create new homes on their existing property, we’re going to create more spaces for folks to live, stay and rent across Canada.”

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

Quick facts

  • The 2024 Fall Economic Statement will be released by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on Monday, December 16, 2024.

  • Budget 2024 provided $409.6 million over four years to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to launch the Canada Secondary Suite Loan Program, enabling homeowners to access low-interest loans to add secondary suites to their homes. 

  • On October 8, 2024, the government announced mortgage insurance rule changes to enable homeowners to add secondary suites. Specifically, these changes, coming into effect on January 15, 2025, will:

    • Allow refinancing with insured mortgages for secondary suites, to let homeowners access the equity in their homes to finance the construction of secondary suites. Borrowers will be able to access financing of up to 90 per cent of the home value, including the value added by the secondary suite(s), and amortize the refinanced mortgage over a period of up to 30 years.
    • Increase the mortgage insurance home price limit to $2 million for those refinancing to build a secondary suite, to ensure homeowners can access this refinancing in all housing markets across the country.
  • Today’s announcement builds on the federal government’s recent announcement of the boldest mortgage reforms in decades to unlock homeownership for every generation of Canadians. Starting December 15, 2024, Canadians will be able to apply for reformed mortgages and benefit from lower monthly payments. These reforms include:

    • Increasing the $1 million price cap for insured mortgages to $1.5 million, to reflect current housing market realities and help more Canadians qualify for a mortgage with a downpayment below 20 per cent. Increasing the insured-mortgage cap—which has not been adjusted since 2012— will lower downpayment requirements for homes valued between $1 million and $1.5 million.
    • Expanding eligibility for 30 year mortgage amortizations to all first-time homebuyers and to all buyers of new builds, to reduce the cost of monthly mortgage payments and help more Canadians buy a home. By helping Canadians buy new builds, including condos, the government is announcing yet another measure to incentivize more new housing construction and tackle the housing shortage. This builds on the Budget 2024 commitment, which came into effect on August 1, 2024, permitting 30 year mortgage amortizations for first-time homebuyers purchasing new builds, including condos.
  • Today’s announcement also builds on the Multigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit, which launched in 2023 and provides up to $7,500 for constructing a secondary suite for a senior or an adult with a disability who is eligible for the Disability Tax Credit.

Associated links

Contacts

Media may contact:

Katherine Cuplinskas
Deputy Director of Communications
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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