SUBMISSION: What we told Ottawa about the housing pipeline

B.C. recorded 124 presales in the first three months of this year. In the same period of 2021, it was about 6,000.

That's not a slow quarter. That's an industry that has stopped starting things.

Housing starts in the Vancouver area fell 42% year-over-year in July. B.C. building permit values dropped $386 million in the second quarter. Alberta starts are down 19% so far this year, and that province's own budget projects a 27% drop for the full year. Permits lead starts by six to 15 months, which means the worst of this hasn't landed yet.

So this week ICBA sent Housing Minister Gregor Robertson seven recommendations, responding to Ottawa's call for input on housing supply.

Two carry the most weight. Expand the GST rebate to every buyer of a new home under $1.5 million, not just first-time buyers — Ontario has done a version of this provincially and projects 8,000 additional starts and 21,000 jobs from it. And make federal housing money conditional on real, measurable cuts to municipal and regional development charges, the fees builders pay upfront, years before anyone moves in.

We also asked Ottawa to walk away from buying unsold B.C. condos. Not one builder we represent asked for that. Every dollar spent buying a finished condo is a dollar not spent making the next one cheaper to build.

The alternative is watching tradespeople leave, the pipeline shrink further, and a supply crisis three or four years out that's worse than the one we're digging out of now.

The people who build the homes are asking Ottawa to act.

Read the full letter HERE.