The Conservative Party is raising fresh alarms about Canada’s declining housing construction, pointing to newly released numbers that show a significant drop in homebuilding nationwide.
According to seasonally adjusted data for October, housing starts fell 17 per cent to an annual rate of 232,765 units—less than half the 500,000 homes per year the federal government has pledged to build. Conservatives say the slowdown marks one of the weakest construction periods in generations, noting that Canada built more homes in the 1970s than it is building today.
The party highlights substantial year-over-year declines across the country: down 35 per cent in Ontario, 22 per cent in British Columbia, and more than 40 per cent in major centres such as Toronto and Vancouver. Several mid-sized cities saw even sharper drops, including Thunder Bay, Peterborough, London, Windsor, Kamloops, Gatineau, and Saguenay.
With fewer homes being built, Conservatives argue, Canadians are feeling the effects through rising rental costs. National rent is up 5.2 per cent year-over-year, including a one-per-cent jump between September and October alone.
The party says its own approach would focus squarely on boosting supply: cutting building-related taxes, tying federal infrastructure funding to actual home construction, removing the federal sales tax on new homes priced under $1.3 million, and eliminating capital gains taxes when money is reinvested in Canadian companies.
Conservatives say these measures would help young Canadians and families regain access to affordable home ownership.
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