Minister Hussen highlights budget investments to build more homes for Canadians

April 24, 2024 – Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

The federal government recently delivered Budget 2024: Fairness for Every Generation.

It is a plan to build a Canada that works better for everyone, where younger generations can get ahead, where their hard work pays off, and where they can buy a home—where everyone has a fair chance at a good middle-class life.

Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, joined by Terry Sheehan, Member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie, highlighted Budget 2024’s investments to create more homes to ensure everyone can find an affordable place to call home in Canada. While there, the Minister also met with Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Matthew Shoemaker.

The following measures, announced in Budget 2024, will help create more houses:

• Building Homes on Public Lands with the new Public Lands for Homes Plan, the federal government will unlock 250,000 new homes by 2031, by using all tools available to convert public lands to housing (such as unused or underused office towers or parking lots), including leasing, acquiring other public lands for housing, and retaining ownership, whenever possible. 
• Building Homes on Canada Post Properties by taking steps to enable Canada Post to prioritize leasing or divestment of post office properties and lands with high potential for housing. This plan would make sure postal service is not disrupted and maintain Canada Post’s role as a “service first” organization focused on delivering the mail. 
• Building Homes on National Defence Lands by exploring the redevelopment of properties that could be suitable for both military and civilian uses, divesting 14 surplus properties with housing potential, and building and renovating housing for Canadian Armed Forces personnel on bases.

Budget 2024 is a plan to deliver fairness for every generation.

First, the budget takes bold action to build more homes. Because the best way to make home prices more affordable is to increase supply—and quickly. It lays out a strategy to unlock 3.87 million new homes by 2031. Key measures include launching the new Public Lands for Homes Plan and Canada Rental Protection Fund, enhancing the Canadian Mortgage Charter, and creating a new Canadian Renters’ Bill of Rights.

Second, it will help make life cost less. The budget builds on the government’s transformative expansion of Canada’s social safety net—$10-a-day child care, dental care for uninsured Canadians, the first phase of universal pharmacare—and advances the government’s work to lower everyday costs for Canadians. This includes helping to stabilize the cost of groceries, cracking down on junk fees, and lowering the costs of banking. Budget 2024 also makes transformative new investments, including a National School Food Program and the Canada Disability Benefit.

Third, this year’s budget will grow the economy in a way that’s shared by all. The government’s plan will increase investment, enhance productivity, and encourage innovation. It will create good-paying and meaningful jobs, keep Canada at the economic forefront, and deliver new support to empower more of our best entrepreneurs and innovators. This includes attracting more investment in the net-zero economy by expanding and delivering the major economic investment tax credits, securing Canada’s advantage as a leader in artificial intelligence, and investing in enhanced research grants that will provide younger generations with good jobs and new opportunities. And it means ensuring Indigenous Peoples share in this growth in a way that works for them.

Budget 2024 will also make Canada’s tax system fairer by asking the wealthiest to pay a bit more—so that the government can invest in prosperity for every generation, and because it would be irresponsible and unfair to pass on more debt to the next generations. Budget 2024 is a responsible economic plan that upholds the fiscal objectives outlined in the 2023 Fall Economic Statement, and sees Canada maintain the lowest deficit- and net debt-to-GDP ratios in the G7.