HOUSING AFFORDABILITY: The key reason that housing is so expensive is that is that there is a shortage of housing supply. To increase supply of housing, the federal government is removing the GST on purpose-built rental developments. The goal of this GST rebate is to make previously financially unviable developments of rental housing viable, and therefore help get more rental housing built.
Recently, at the Standing Committee on Finance, I asked Department of Finance Officials what impact the GST rebate will have on housing supply across the housing spectrum.
