Thank you, Filomena, I’m very happy to be here with you, with Chrystia, with Chad and Lisa. 

And I also want to give a huge shout out to Chad specifically for all the amazing work he’s done as head of our Housing Caucus. Thank you for being such a strong voice and advocate within our team. 

(Applause)

Mayor Horwath, Andrea, thank you so much for all your leadership. Councillor Hwang. Andrea, your leadership in a thoughtful way, being a partner with us around the Housing Accelerator, around all the progressive initiatives that we’re putting forward to build more homes to support people in vulnerable situations, we can’t ask for a better partner than you. And it really is so delightful to be able to work with you for the betterment, not just of Hamilton, but for an impact right across the country. Thank you to Mohawk College here in Hamilton for your welcome. Thank you to all the amazing students who came out and small business people and youngsters and entrepreneurs, people who are demonstrating every day that they’re there to work incredibly hard to build a stronger future. 

And as Filomena pointed out, there’s a challenge right now where young people need more support, but it’s not anything that young people are doing wrong; on the contrary, they’re doing everything right. They’re working hard, harder than just about any previous generation with more side hustles, more extra opportunities, they’re trying to figure things out and navigate things through. But the system has changed. The exact same amount of work, the exact same good contributions made by a generation before of young people would result in them being able to own a home. 

These young people, no matter how much they work, no matter how much they set aside, it just doesn’t seem possible. And that’s what this budget is focused on turning around: changing the system so that we can actually give to these young people, who are key to the success of our country, of our economy and of our future, the same kind of hope that their hard work will be rewarded. So, we’re here to talk about what we’re doing to make housing more accessible and more affordable right here in the GTHA and right across the country.

Two weeks ago, we released a budget that will make the economy fairer for every generation, especially for millennials and Gen Z, and making the economy fairer for everyone starts by making sure people can afford a home.

If you have a good job and you work hard, you should be able to buy a house or a condo, but that’s not the case right now, because prices are too high and the system has changed.

Young people need to live with their parents for longer than ever before, or they have to have roommates for a longer period because rents are too high. When you’re 20 something and you have your whole life in front of you, but you cannot picture yourself ever owning a home, that’s a problem in a country like Canada. We need to change that. 

So today, I want to focus on some of our measures to support both renters and first-time homebuyers. For young people who want to buy a home for the first time, we know how challenging it can be to get into the housing market. To support them, we’ve already launched the First Home Savings Account, and close to three quarters of a million Canadians have now opened an account. In our budget, we’re also increasing the RRSP withdrawal limit from $35,000 to $60,000 so that first-time homebuyers can save up to $25,000 more for their down payment faster.

In our budget, we’re increasing the RRSP withdrawal limit from $35,000 to $60,000 so that first-time home buyers can save faster.

The way it used to work for RRSP withdrawals for home buying was that you needed to start repaying within two years, but now we’re temporarily extending that grace period to five years because of the pressures people are feeling right now. And for those who’ve had a hard time building a credit score so they can eventually get a mortgage, we’re calling on banks, fintechs and credit bureaus to allow your rental history to be taken into account in your credit score. 

I mean, think about it, young people right now are paying a larger proportion of their monthly incomes on rent than any generation before, and more of them are renting. That’s money they’re paying regularly, like clockwork every month, and getting no credit for it in the bigger picture. With you’re paying every month a rent of 2,000 bucks or 1,500 bucks or whatever it is, you should be able to have the bank look at that and say, “Wow, you’ve been a diligent and responsible renter for the past years, we’re more comfortable offering you a better, bigger mortgage sooner because you’ve proven yourself to be reliable.” That’s something that we can do and that’s something that we’re making happen right now.

And on top of helping those who want to become homeowners, we are protecting and supporting renters.

To return short-term rentals to the long-term market, we’re cracking down on short-term rental operators that don’t comply with the relevant provincial or municipal laws. And to support these efforts, we will launch a $50 million Short-Term Rental Enforcement Fund. 

Mayor Horwath, Andrea, I know that Hamilton recently passed a first-of-its-kind law focused on protecting tenants against renovictions. Thank you for leading the charge on renter protection locally, and you can count on the federal government to be here as a partner on housing and on protecting renters.

The housing crisis is complex, and the only way to solve it is to adopt a number of responsible solutions. Solutions to help renters, solutions to help those who want to become homeowners.

Our government will continue to work hard every day to make housing more affordable so that every generation has a fair chance to succeed.