The recent Federal Budget established three housing-related goals: to make home ownership more affordable for first-time buyers; to boost housing supply; and to increase fairness & transparency in the sector.

On the affordability side, a First-Time Home Buyer Incentive Program will allow eligible first-time buyers who have their down payment for insured mortgages to finance a portion of their purchase through a shared equity mortgage with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

While this program would help reduce mortgage payments for eligible first-time buyers, in the short-term the impact could be to push up prices if no additional supply is added to balance new homeowners who otherwise may not have purchased.

On the supply side, funding to the Rental Construction Financing Initiative was increased to $10 billion to help build 42,500 new affordable rental units. A Housing Supply Challenge was also issued to encourage initiatives that remove barriers to the creation of new housing, as well the establishment of an Expert Panel on the Future of Housing Supply and Affordability to identify approaches to adding new housing supply. 

Learn more about key Federal Budget elements for housing in the rennie brief. 

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