Madam Speaker, our government's main objective is to help Canadians deal with the challenges they are currently facing.
This means that we are working on putting an end to the pandemic once and for all and doing everything we can to keep life affordable. One way to do that is to make housing more affordable.
Every year we have been in office, we have made historic, long-term investments in affordable housing. Our recent throne speech was no exception. Whether it is building more housing every year, increasing the number of affordable housing units, or ending chronic homelessness, the government is committed to working with its partners to deliver concrete results.
For example, the housing accelerator fund will help municipalities build more and better housing more quickly. Cities can use the funds to attract more investors and planners, offset land purchases and build the infrastructure required for new housing. This will do much to make housing more affordable for everyone across the country.
We recognize that buying a home is especially hard for young people in this country and that the housing market is also creating wealth inequality between the older and younger generations.
We want to help. We are bringing in a more flexible first-time homebuyer incentive program, as well as new rent-to-own programs. We are also reducing closing costs for first-time homebuyers.
Today, I only had time to talk about the programs we announced recently. However, in the past year alone, we have participated in hundreds of announcements welcoming families to their new homes. This was made possible thanks to the national housing strategy, a $72‑billion, 10-year plan that will give more Canadians a place to call home.
I will close by saying that our government is making substantive and long-term investments in housing because we believe that everyone deserves a chance to succeed and thrive, and we are working hard to make that a reality. Everyone deserves a roof over their head.