The Ontario Home Builders Association is deeply disappointed with the lack of support for Ontario\u2019s home builders and buyers in the 2025 Federal Budget<\/span>.\u00a0 Canada\u2019s housing market needed a bold move to unlock supply and restore affordability, but this budget<\/span> does not deliver that.<\/p>\n The budget<\/span> presented no new measures to unlock supply and restore affordability as Housing Minister Gregor Robertson has previously indicated;<\/a> the federal approach remains focused on incremental change rather than transformative action. The government of Canada continues to prioritize social housing, with no new measures to support the construction of market housing \u2014 the segment where most Ontarians seek to buy or rent homes.<\/p>\n Disappointingly, the government of Canada will not expand the GST rebate to all new home sales \u2013 still only providing the tax break to first time homebuyers on homes valued up to $1.5 million and excluding renovations that create additional housing units. OHBA research done earlier this year shows that the threshold being used by the federal government will impact less than five percent of home sales in Ontario.<\/p>\n Eliminating the full GST on all new home sales in Ontario specifically is estimated to have a fiscal impact of approximately $1.8 billion. This projection assumes that a full PST exemption would stimulate the construction of an additional 53,000 new homes, on top of the roughly 80,000 homes already expected to be available for sale by 2026 \u2014 bringing the total to approximately 132,000 units.<\/p>\n Indexing the current GST relief caps, which have not been updated since it was introduced in 1991, would provide an additional average GST relief on a new home transaction for ALL home sales in Ontario of approximately $35,300 on a typical home valued at $1.1 million.<\/p>\n During his budget<\/span> speech, Finance Minister Francois-Philippe did not indicate when the GST rebate would begin, only mentioning that it is working its way through the legislative process as part of Bill C-4, which was introduced in the House of Commons on June 10, 2025. By not sharing tangible details on when consumers can expect this rebate to begin, potential home buyers continue to sit on the sidelines.<\/p>\n Budget<\/span> 2025 introduced a new\u202fBuild Communities Strong Fund, which will allocate\u202f$17.2 billion over 10 years, beginning in 2026-27, to support infrastructure projects across the country. The fund will target housing-enabling infrastructure (such as roads and water\/wastewater systems), health facilities, and post-secondary infrastructure.<\/p>\n Of this,\u202f$12.2 billion\u202fwill be distributed to provinces and territories that agree to cost-match federal contributions and commit to\u202freducing development charges\u202fand avoiding other taxes that restrict housing supply.<\/p>\n The budget<\/span> unfortunately remains incredibly vague regarding the Liberal platform\u2019s commitment to work with municipalities to reduce development charges (DCs) by 50 percent.<\/p>\n Despite the platform commitment to reducing DC\u2019s, the Budget<\/span> document contains no mention of this serious issue, no clear targets, timelines, or accountability mechanisms\u202fto ensure municipalities follow through on reducing these costs \u2014 a missed opportunity to meaningfully address one of the key barriers to housing affordability.<\/p>\n The government\u2019s continued inaction has put 40,000 jobs in Ontario at risk \u2013 from architects and engineers, to trades and sub trades across the residential construction sector. The estimated direct and indirect economic impact from these job losses on Ontario economy is $5.3 billion.<\/p>\n Other notes from the 2025 Budget<\/span> include:<\/p>\n Key messages related to our industry if you are speaking to your Member of Parliament can be found here<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"-\"](\"https:\/\/www.canadiancontractor.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AdobeStock_200969371-630x418.jpeg\")
The Ontario Home Builders released this statement regarding the 2025 federal budget.<\/em><\/p>\n\n