Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
My name is Jessy Desjardins, and I am Vice-President for Development and Conception at Brigil.
First of all, I want to thank you for your kind invitation to appear before you today.
I admit I'm somewhat nervous because this is the first time I've ever testified before a parliamentary committee. I'm nervous but eager to discuss issues that our business and I are passionate about: housing access, the environment and the economy, three indissociable factors.
First, some background on Brigil. We are a private, solely owned family business that operates in the Quebec City region, building housing and living environments. Since 1985, we have built more than 12,000 housing units, 4,500 of which we still own and operate in the retail market. Over the years, we have acquired land on which we plan to build more than 40,000 new housing units in the Quebec City region over the next 20 years.
Many factors have contributed to soaring prices in Canada, including, of course, the impact of global inflation and, more particularly, a shortage of available housing. That shortage is the unfortunate result of poor urban planning in Canada over the past 50 years for which all levels of government are partly responsible. I agree with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the CMHC, which appeared before you on January 21 last and stated that the housing supply was lagging behind demand, since Canada has registered the highest demographic growth of all the G7 countries.
We absolutely must build more if we want to balance housing supply and demand. However, many stumbling blocks lie in the way. Long-term planning is lacking at the municipal level and should make a more coherent connection between land use planning and public transit. Excessive municipal requirements, related bureaucratic red tape and administrative delays also increase construction costs and, incidentally, rental costs. In Quebec, in particular, various aspects of the province's Act respecting land use planning and development legitimize the "not in my backyard" syndrome cited by CMHC, which unfortunately attests to a willingness to favour special interests over the collective interest. I can provide an example of this, if you wish.
In my opinion, major housing costs must be considered in the context of total living costs. I'm specifically referring here to automobile operating costs. In addition to representing 22% of all greenhouse gas emissions in Quebec, the use and maintenance of personal motor vehicles result in significant costs to Canadian households. According to CAA Quebec, those costs amount to $833 a month. If urban areas could increase the density of zones bordering public transit lines, automobiles might ultimately become a luxury instead of a necessity. The advent of light rail in Ottawa is an example of this.
Pressure to build more housing is being felt in all industrialized countries, resulting in a scarcity of construction materials and, consequently, inflationary pressure on prices, longer delivery delays and rising competition for materials and skilled labour. In conjunction with this shortage, increasing public infrastructure works are causing soaring construction costs and a sharp decline in the construction industry's ability to deliver habitable units on time. However, some of these projects, such as work on core public transit networks, are essential, whereas others, such as roadworks, have now become debatable since COP26, the 26th x Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Let's be clear: housing construction depends on an ecosystem of municipal restrictions, transport system development and hard economic reality. Like many other property developers, Brigil would like to be part of the solution.
I'll be pleased to answer your questions.
Thank you.