Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called on premiers across Canada to eliminate provincial sales taxes on new homes under $1 million.
Poilievre’s plea follows his recent commitment to axe the federal sales tax on new home purchases under $1 million if elected Prime Minister, arguing that these tax cuts would alleviate Canada’s severe housing affordability crisis.
“Canadians are living through a housing hell after home costs doubled during the nine years of Justin Trudeau’s government,” wrote Poilievre in his letter to premiers.
In the caption for his post, Poilievre claimed that taking federal and provincial taxes off homes would result in savings up to $150,000 on a new house.
Poilievre’s original plea to cut the federal sales tax would save homebuyers $40,000 on the purchase of an $800,000 home, equivalent to $2,200 annually in mortgage payments. He said that removing the GST on these new homes would spur the building of an additional 30,000 homes annually.
“This is a significant step in fixing what has been broken and making homeownership more than just a dream for young Canadians again. But there’s more that can be done, and you can help,” Poilievre told the premiers.
The Conservative leader added that since 2015, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took office, rental costs, mortgage payments, and down payments required have all doubled.
Poilievre previously stated that taxes account for a very sizeable portion of the cost of new homes, citing that they make up around 30% of the cost of a new home in British Columbia and Ontario, the country’s two most expensive provinces for housing. He said about 39% of this cost goes to the federal government.
“But across the country, provincial sales taxes also significantly increase the cost of homes,” he said.
When Trudeau took office, Poilievre said it took 39% of median pre-tax household income to cover homeownership costs. Now, he said it takes nearly 60%.
An RBC report revealed that housing affordability in Canada reached an all-time low in April. In Vancouver, the average household would have to spend 106.3% of its income to cover homeownership costs.
A recent poll revealed that 80% of Canadians believe that owning a home in Canada is “only for the rich.”
True North reached out to every provincial premier and asked whether they would support Poilievre’s call.
Alberta does not have a provincial sales tax. Between Jan. and Sep. 2024, Alberta’s housing starts far exceeded other provinces with over 33,500, one of the busiest times for homebuilding in the province’s history.
Nova Scotia said they are currently in an election period and cannot comment at this time.
Other provinces have yet to respond.