Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has upped the threshold for the value of homes that would qualify for federal sales tax exemptions under his proposed housing plan.
Poilievre announced on Tuesday that homes worth up to $1.3 million would be exempt from paying GST–up from the $1 million when he first introduced the plan last year.
Poilievre held a press conference near several new developments in Vaughan, Ontario where he announced that his party would remove federal sales taxes on the sale of newly built homes up to $1.3 million. This is a bump from the previous exemption up to $1 million that his party began promising in Fall 2024.
“That’s why in acknowledging the Liberal housing crisis has worsened since October, I’m announcing that a new Conservative government will put Canada first by taking GST, the federal sales tax, off of all homes under $1.3 million,” said Poilievre.
Poilievre explained that he is increasing the threshold to qualify for the GST exemption to accommodate for the fact that the housing crisis has gotten worse since he originally announced the policy.
“The problem has gotten even worse since I made that announcement. Now, a million dollars is not enough to get the average home in many markets,” said Poilievre.
The Conservatives claim that the policy will save home buyers up to $65,000 on the purchase of their new home.
Poilievre took the opportunity to slam his main opponent Liberal leader Mark Carney, who he claims was responsible for exacerbating Canada’s housing crisis as former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s economic advisor.
“Now it’s very interesting that the worst housing inflation of the lost Liberal decade happened after Mark Carney became Justin Trudeau’s economic advisor,” said Poilievre.
Poilievre also blamed Carney for exacerbating Britain’s housing crisis during his time as the former governor of the Bank of England.
“It’s London’s Daily Telegraph which comments on Mark Carney’s time as the governor there where he caused the housing crisis in that country. They said that he had the ‘reverse Midas touch’,” said Poilievre.
Last week, Carney copied Poilievre’s plan, promising to scrap the GST for first-time home buyers on purchases up to $1 million.
In December 2024, Deputy Conservative Leader Melissa Lantsman tabled a motion urging the government to eliminate the GST on new homes under $1 million. While the Conservatives and NDP voted for the motion, the Liberals and Bloc Québécois opposed and defeated it.