I'd like to thank Mr. Lefebvre for his question.
I want to point out to the committee that I wasn't working at the APCHQ when Mr. Lefebvre was a member of the organization.
You're asking me what the government can do to help contractors do their job, which is to build houses and housing.
I can tell you that the APCHQ has proposed a number of measures to the federal government in recent years. One of the proposed measures was indeed to remove the GST for first-time homebuyers.
Other measures have been proposed, such as measures to facilitate access to housing through tax or financial measures. For example, we propose relaxing the rules related to the stress test or those related to access to that test. That would make it easier to access loans or financing. That's one of the things that should be possible. Someone who pays their $2,500 rent every month and who, for a number of years, has demonstrated sound management when it comes to paying rent should be able to access bank financing. That access is more difficult now, given the rising costs.
We also made recommendations not only to help people access home ownership, but also to stimulate supply. Stimulating supply would give contractors more predictability. This would make it possible to simplify the regulations, of course.
It would also make it possible to ensure easier access to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, or CMHC, programs. Instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach, we need to adopt approaches where we're able to carry out projects that don't force contractors to choose between affordability and energy efficiency, which is counterintuitive. There should be additional measures. That's one of the things we recommend to increase supply.
There's also the whole issue of regulations. Canada has a very diverse set of regulations, not to mention the fact that the construction code is interpreted very differently from one region of Quebec to another. Regulatory harmonization would certainly help provide predictability.
The other thing I want to mention is that we also need to make sure we don't lose homes that have already been built. It's not just about building more homes. Our housing stock in Quebec and Canada is aging. We have to make sure that it is renovated and maintained. The most affordable housing is housing that already exists, that's already built.
That's work for the renovation sector. It's as important as building new homes.