Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
That's a very good question.
First, I would like to clarify something. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, a federal institution, estimates that 860,000 housing units must be built by 2030 to eliminate the housing deficit in Quebec.
To do that, we would have to triple the pace of housing starts that we have seen in recent years in Quebec. Obviously, the challenge is enormous. We will probably not get there, unfortunately, but various things can still be done. We applaud the goods and services tax exemption on new rental housing construction. Of course, we are making the same request to the provincial government with regard to the Quebec sales tax, which is almost 10%. This would reduce construction costs and relaunch some of the rental housing construction projects that are currently on hold because they are not financially viable.
Of course, that will not be enough either, but we could also amend some bylaws. They could beless restrictive and allow more auxiliary dwellings to be built. We could let people convert their homes into duplexes, turn a basement into an apartment, create intergenerational homes—