Canada is on the right track but won't reach its target of building 5.8 million new homes in the coming decade unless it loosens mortgage rules, addresses the labour shortage and helps to boost production of factory-built homes, says the Canadian Home Builders' Association .The Canadian Home Builders Association released its 'Sector Transition Strategy' Thursday. It proposes actions the federal government could take to accelerate home construction.
To tame a hot housing market, the Harper government reduced amortization periods for insured mortgages from 40 to 35 years in 2008, from 35 to 30 years in 2011 and then again from 30 to 25 years in 2012. The CHBA also wants the GST rebate on the cost of new or substantially renovated housing to be increased and said the federal government should ensure that taxation, codes and standards do not slow housing construction.
To address this shortage, the CHBA wants governments to promote careers in the construction industry and tweak the immigration system to attract more skilled foreign workers to Canada.