Thank you, Mr. Chair.
On behalf of the Canadian Real Estate Association's some 150,000 members, I want to thank the committee for the opportunity to provide our thoughts on the government's housing accelerator fund. I'm delighted to be here with Jeff and Mr. Cimon, because I think it's vital to hear from advocates from across the housing spectrum.
Housing is a long-term asset that provides a safe, sustainable and quality environment for families. Beyond the physical importance of housing and shelter, it is equally important to recognize the social, psychological and cultural value of housing. Significant research exists today as evidence that secure housing positively impacts a person's social and mental well-being, resulting in broader benefits to society.
With our over 70 years in the housing market, we have seen first-hand that stable and affordable housing has a positive impact on families and communities. However, as we are all aware, Canada is currently experiencing a housing crisis due to a lack of adequate housing across the housing spectrum. Given our role in the housing industry, we believe our members are in a position to help advocate for families and communities to find housing solutions and, ultimately, fulfill the dream of home ownership.
Our organization is encouraged by the government's response to the housing crisis by creating the housing accelerator fund. It will provide cities with tools to speed up housing construction, which is needed. CREA would like to see the housing accelerator fund being used in part to promote innovative residential construction, to encourage infrastructure bilateral agreements and to provide incentives for local communities to boost supply.
First, we recommend that the federal government prioritize research that would lead to a better understanding of the precise nature of the supply problem in Canada. There is no one housing market in Canada, and the issues facing people in remote areas are very different from the ones in the greater Toronto area. We have significant data and expertise that we are willing to share as part of an effort to identify housing needs across Canada, but we cannot do this alone. We need to understand the problem in greater detail before we can be successful in introducing solutions and allocating capital and other resources.
Data can help identify relevant neighbourhoods and types of housing needed to introduce housing options that are compatible in scale with single-family homes, which we often refer to as the “missing middle”. Data can also help identify skills and labour gaps, so that appropriate strategies can be deployed to address them.
Second, we recommend that innovative development be used as a criterion for support from the housing accelerator fund. By innovative development, we mean innovation in construction methods and materials that allow homes to be produced more quickly and cost effectively, and with greater resiliency and energy efficiency that will contribute to Canada's climate goals.
We need innovation in the way the workforce and businesses involved in home building are organized to make the industry more efficient. There should be greater use of manufactured homes that are factory-built using advanced technologies and materials, computer-assisted design and robotics. These are needed if we hope to reduce the time to market, enhance quality and increase productivity. The federal government can play a role in fostering this innovation and, ultimately, producing an exportable suite of products.
Finally, cities and municipalities must be incentivized to address Nimbyism, to streamline planning and approval processes and to reduce fees and charges that are impediments to increasing housing supply. That's why this fund is so important. I agree entirely with Jeff and I think they have some great ideas.
I also believe we need to radically alter exclusionary zoning. Restrictive zoning drives all of the other barriers to renovation and new building. We need to allow for “missing middle” housing in areas traditionally zoned for single-family housing, especially in high-demand urban neighbourhoods. This is urgent.
When the federal government invests in the infrastructure needed to build housing units, including telecommunications, roads, sewers and water, it enables new housing but also paves the way for enhanced business productivity more broadly.
It seems well understood that a lack of housing supply is the problem facing policy-makers. The role of innovation, I believe, is less understood, but it offers the opportunity to significantly improve the way we deploy scarce resources to address our housing needs.
Once again, thank you for the opportunity to be here. I look forward to your questions.