Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is taking action to build the infrastructure communities need and to make housing more affordable for Canadians. Budget 2025, “Canada Strong”, delivers generational investments to meet these goals. It includes $51 billion for a new infrastructure program, with $17 billion dedicated to housing enabling infrastructure. This will allow cuts to development charges that will significantly bring down the cost of housing for Canadians.
We are also addressing the housing crisis head-on with the recent launch of Build Canada Homes. This new federal agency will finance and build affordable housing at scale. It will leverage public lands, offer flexible financial incentives, attract private capital, facilitate large portfolio projects and support manufacturers to build the homes Canadians need.
Build Canada Homes will prioritize large-scale, long-term solutions to build on the successes of existing housing initiatives with a team Canada approach. These programs include the affordable housing fund and the apartment construction loan program, which have built hundreds of thousands of new homes and repaired hundreds of thousands more.
We have also seen how the $4.4-billion housing accelerator fund is eliminating barriers to development. So far, we have signed agreements with more than 240 communities across the country that have committed to cutting red tape and streamlining the development process.
The Government of Canada is dedicated to making Canada's housing market work better for everyone. We are focused on affordability, and we are building a stronger Canada.
We are not stopping there. The federal government is also reducing barriers to home ownership so that young people are not priced out of the housing market. Measures like the tax-free first home savings account and the homebuyers' plan help Canadians save for their first home. We have also made changes to mortgage financing rules to help more buyers qualify. Importantly, we are eliminating the goods and services tax, the GST, for the first time on homebuyers of new homes at or under $1 million and reducing GST on new homes up to $1.5 million.
Young Canadians deserve the same opportunities that previous generations enjoyed, and we are making that happen. The Government of Canada will continue to work closely with home builders, indigenous partners and all levels of government to deliver results. We are putting affordability front and centre, and we will innovate, invest and remove barriers so that every Canadian can find a place to call home.