Evidence of meeting #102 for Finance in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was units.
A video is available from Parliament.
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
Thank you, MP Morrice.
Now we go over to MP Ste-Marie for a question.
12:45 p.m.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I thank Ms. Bendayan for letting Mr. Morrice speak. Actually, I think that Parliament should review its procedures and fully recognize parties with fewer than 12 members. That would be a great help to democracy.
I have a question for the Department of Finance on the GST portion of Bill C-56. We've talked about this at length. The bill contains no specifics on the type of buildings or housing that will be covered, nor any affordability requirements to qualify for the GST rebate, but it does give the government the authority to clarify these matters through regulations.
Why aren't the eligibility criteria for the rebate in the bill? It's unusual in terms of taxation.
September 28th, 2023 / 12:45 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Tax Policy Branch, Department of Finance
Thank you for the question.
The decision to proceed in this way was made by the government, which determined that it was the best way to proceed in the current context. At the same time, the government has announced its intention to proceed by regulation to define which rental housing units will be eligible. It has already provided some details. For example, we're talking about dwellings with at least four units or 10 rooms, as the case may be. Then 90% of the units must be used for long-term rental housing. Basically, those will be the conditions.
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
Thank you, Mr. Ste‑Marie.
Our final question will be from MP Blaikie to our witnesses today.
Go ahead, MP Blaikie.
12:45 p.m.
NDP
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
I just want to take a moment to express concern at the way in which financialization has been described by the CMHC today. I think for folks who are concerned about turning housing into an asset class first and foremost, as opposed to shelter that all folks in Canada should have a right to.... Examples of financialization that I think are particularly nefarious have to do with large companies or trusts purchasing buildings where there are already affordable units, renovating those suites and evicting tenants who depend on those buildings to provide affordable rent. The companies are doing that for the sake of shareholder profit. We can't meet the needs of housing in Canada if we accept that as a model.
I do think that we need more private investment, but it has to take certain forms. I think financialization is often used to describe that morphing of housing from shelter to asset class. I think this speaks a little bit to what Mr. Woodcock was going to start to speak to. I'm happy to give him the floor briefly to go back to what he was going to talk about at the end of my last segment with whatever time I have remaining, Mr. Chair.
12:45 p.m.
Director, Client Development and Government Relations, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
During my prior answer, I was simply going to say that through the NHS, we have a bilateral housing framework in place with the provinces and territories.
In most cases, decades ago the federal government transferred responsibility for social housing to the provinces, along with financial resources to support those units over the long term. We have targets for preservation of those units. Those are looked at on an annual basis with the provinces that have signed the agreements; Quebec and P.E.I. have not. We work very diligently with our provincial and territorial partners to make sure that we're preserving those units at all costs.
That is also a big part of the work we do on a regular basis. We can provide some statistics surrounding that as a follow-up.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
Thank you. Thank you, MP Blaikie.
Thank you to all our officials as the witnesses who were here to answer many questions here today from our members.
We had some guests join our committee. They were MP Morrice, MP Sorbara and PS Fragiskatos, along with all our regular members. We thank you for your testimony. This was the first meeting of our study on housing. Thank you.
At this time, members, we're going to suspend before we go in camera.
[Proceedings continue in camera]