Human Resources committee  This is about investing in the capacity of communities to build more. We know that those barriers are real. We know that it takes too long to approve, deploy and deliver housing projects. We want to help by incentivizing that faster building of more supply. I'll turn to the president, Romy Bowers, for more details.

Human Resources committee  We look forward to the results of your study, and to working together to continue supporting housing supply and affordability in this country. At this time, Mr. Chair, I'd be more than happy to take questions from members of the committee. Thank you.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, it is really difficult to take the member seriously on this issue because she claimed in the House that we will not build a single affordable home in her region this year. We know that the national housing strategy's rapid housing initiative alone has built 10,250 permanent affordable homes, including in her region.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to agree with the hon. member that we need to support renters throughout Canada. We are the government that introduced the Canada housing benefit, and in budget 2022, we are adding more investments in that program, with a top-up of $500 on average to vulnerable renters.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, once again I will take this opportunity to unequivocally state that our government is not considering charging capital gains tax on primary residences. Any suggestion otherwise is false. The party opposite has repeated this misinformation and disinformation in the House and in the media.

Housing  Speaker, our budget contains a lot of measures to build more housing supply: 100,000 new homes through the housing accelerator fund, 6,000 more homes through new co-op buildings, 6,000 more homes through the rapid housing initiative and 20,000 more homes through the national housing co-investment fund. That is the supply we are taking about.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, it is really difficult to take Conservatives seriously on the issue of housing affordability. They say one thing in this august chamber and then outside, in committee—

Housing  The Conservatives are not serious. They are full of rhetoric, and Canadians see through them. We will take additional measures to improve the first-time homebuyers incentive and turn more Canadian renters into homeowners. Let us see if they vote against that.

Human Resources committee  First of all, it's really important to understand that for our national housing strategy programs, for existing initiatives but also for any proposed new programs like the housing accelerator fund, we will always, always take a rural lens, a rural and remote community lens, to make sure their needs are also taken into consideration. In addition to that, when we talk about new programs like the rent-to-own program, that will also, of course, serve Canadians who live in rural and remote communities.

Human Resources committee  You are absolutely right, it is something about which we are extremely concerned. We will take action, both as a government but also in collaboration with provinces and territories and using some of their tools to make sure we deal with this problem head-on. We're looking at a number of options, including using our Canada Revenue Agency tools to examine this issue and looking at the options we have to tackle this quite concerning issue.

Human Resources committee  We intend to work with them through the housing accelerator fund, because we recognize that projects are taking too long. The supply of housing needs to come on board faster and in larger quantities. When I say “housing supply”, I mean both deeply affordable housing and housing supply for middle-class Canadians.

Human Resources committee  Thank you so much. I remember making that important announcement in your constituency. Our government is taking concrete actions to protect the most vulnerable Canadians. I'm proud of the fact that our national housing strategy is doing exactly that. We announced a new $4.3-billion Canada community housing initiative, through the national housing strategy, that is helping to protect community-based housing for some 330,000 households across the country.

Human Resources committee  Chair, with many ambitious initiatives to make sure every Canadian has a safe and affordable place to call home. I turn it back to you, Mr. Chair, and I would be happy to take any questions from the committee. Thank you.

Diversity and Inclusion  That is why earlier this past summer we held a national summit on Islamophobia to hear directly from community members about their lived experiences, but also taking concrete steps on how we can assist them further. I am pleased to inform the hon. member for Mississauga—Erin Mills that we will take further action, including dedicated resources to tackle Islamophobia and working with Muslim Canadians on the appointment of a special representative to tackle Islamophobia.

Housing  All of them were possible through the national housing strategy. It required, and was the result of, strong partnerships from coast to coast to coast. Take, for example, the bilateral housing agreements that we negotiated with every province and territory. Through those agreements, we are able to not only build new housing but also maintain the federal community housing stock that is there.