Natural Resources committee  We do it very, very well, and we need to continue to do better. We can learn from other countries here and there, but Canadian technology, especially in the energy-efficient housing space, is excellent. We just need to keep getting better.

Natural Resources committee  Absolutely. The retrofit program was an excellent program; it had fantastic savings. It was in just about one out of every thirteen houses in Canada and it saved about 20%, on average, per home. Those are huge numbers. It was, as you say, a grant program. We were very supportive of it and still are.

Natural Resources committee  Certainly.

Natural Resources committee  When it comes to the affordability gap with respect to energy efficiency, there's not much of a difference in terms of high-price markets versus low-price markets, because we're really talking about additional costs of construction. What's driving prices in the larger urban centres is land prices and those kinds of things.

Natural Resources committee  Yes.

Natural Resources committee  I certainly would.

Natural Resources committee  There is definitely a major issue right now in Canada in terms of rising government-imposed taxes. They come in all kinds of forms. There are the regulation aspects. There are all kinds of fees, development charges, etc. Every level of government is imposing them, and there have been more and more from the local level.

Natural Resources committee  We're certainly seeing a skilled trades shortage all across the residential construction industry, both in new construction and in renovations. It means that costs are going up. The availability of workers so that you can get a job done is scarce, so we definitely need to be getting more people into the skilled trades moving forward.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you very much. For decades the Canadian Home Builders' Association and the home building industry at large, in collaboration with government research agencies, has continually innovated to improve the performance of homes on a voluntary basis. In relation to energy efficiency, a newly built home today requires less than half of the energy of one built in the 1990s in terms of space heating and cooling needs.

Finance committee  I haven't seen much tax spending to reduce house prices. Can you give me an example? I fail to know of one.

Finance committee  Yes, and I think it's really important that we draw the distinction between affordable housing and housing affordability. There have been a lot of investments. Certainly the current government, with its national housing strategy, came out with a national social housing strategy, and that's important.

Finance committee  That's exactly right, and when we look at energy efficiency and housing, particularly new housing, we're doing incredibly well and have been for a long time. We're 50% better now than we were 25 years ago in new housing, and we continue to improve. The next changes are going to be very expensive changes.

Finance committee  We need to get more supply on track. We need to find ways to help them with down payments and we need to do something about the mortgage rules we have in place right now to recognize that first-time homebuyers are the lowest-risk group of people of all ages in terms of risk and default.

Finance committee  There's no question that it's knocking people out of the housing market to a pretty significant degree. That affects jobs. It affects construction. Unfortunately, it affects jobs and construction in the most extreme manner in the areas that can least afford to have it happen, in places like Alberta, which has been facing challenges with oil, forest fires, and so on; and Atlantic Canada, which is still trying to recover from 2009.

Finance committee  Thank you. As you've mentioned, the theme of this year's pre-budget consultations revolves around enhancing Canada's competitiveness. The quality of life offered by Canadian communities, frequently rated as among the highest in the world, is a competitive advantage, and it's closely tied to the reasonable prospect of owning your own home.