N.B. housing minister pursuing HST exemption for construction of detached homes

Aidan Cox · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 19, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

New Brunswick's lodging curate says he's pursuing the removal of income taxation from the costs associated with gathering caller detached homes and townhouses.

With aboriginal occurrence seen from the removal of HST from caller multi-unit operation costs, David Hickey said expanding the programme to include single-family homes should beryllium "on the table" successful bid to improve affordability for location buyers.

"I spot this arsenic a solution to conversations astir solving that missing ... middle-of-the-road-priced housing," said Hickey.

"You know, if we look astatine thresholds determination astir $300,000, possibly that's the conversation. Maybe the speech is around [exempting HST on] townhouses and antithetic types of longer-term location ownership."

Hickey's comments came aft helium addressed a country afloat of location builders attending a league hosted by the Canadian Home Builders' Association successful Fredericton connected Tuesday.

Hickey emphasized his goal of making New Brunswick the astir charismatic spot to physique homes successful Atlantic Canada and pointed to his government's caller removal of HST connected multi-unit gathering costs arsenic a measurement successful that direction.

The national authorities moved successful the autumn 2023 to rebate the GST on the operation of flat buildings with 4 oregon much units and invited provinces to articulation successful removing the provincial information of the income tax.

New Brunswick was a precocious adopter among its Maritime neighbours, with the state agreeing to enactment successful the exemption starting past November.

Hickey's remarks were followed by a question from the assemblage astir erstwhile the exemption would beryllium extended to different types of residential construction.

"That's the push," said Hickey, successful response.

"Last week I met with the national curate of lodging successful Ottawa — Nate Eriskine-Smith — and I said our adjacent people is to bash the aforesaid happening connected single-unit lodging construction. I deliberation it's a truly important measurement and if we're truly committed to driving down those barriers and driving down the outgo of the units, that's got to be portion of it."

In an interrogation aft the event, Hickey said the exemption would archetypal request to beryllium implemented by Ottawa earlier New Brunswick signed on, due to the fact that of the ample magnitude of administrative enactment that's required of the Canada Revenue Agency.

"It would beryllium a monolithic lift that we don't person the capableness to do, which is wherefore we thin connected the feds to pb those files," helium said.

CBC News asked Erskine-Smith's bureau for an interrogation astir expanding the HST exemption, and a spokesperson deferred remark to Finance Canada.

Finance Canada was incapable to supply a effect by Tuesday afternoon.

Similar proposals pitched federally

Last fall, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced helium would region the GST on caller homes purchased for nether $1 cardinal if helium became the adjacent premier minister, and helium wrote to premiers encouraging them to remove the provincial information of the income tax.

As portion of his run to go the adjacent person of the Liberal Party, Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to destruct the GST on homes costing little than $1 cardinal for first-time location buyers.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has not made a similar pledge but said if the GST were chopped from caller location sales, it should beryllium targeted astatine first-time location buyers and should not use to investors who privation to ain aggregate properties.

Home builders invited proposal

Constructing a caller entry-level location costs about $400,000 for 3 Rivers Construction Ltd. in Miramichi, Darren Henderson, an employee, said.

If the company could save 15 per cent connected those costs, helium said the last merchandise could beryllium astir that overmuch cheaper for the extremity user.

"We're looking astatine a 27 building-lot portion of land, and that [HST exemption] would truly solidify our determination connected proceeding to physique affordable housing," Henderson said.

"I deliberation you would spot a maturation successful the azygous household lodging sector."

Richard LeBlanc owns Riko Passive Homes, a Quebec institution that specializes successful gathering energy-efficient homes.

He said the outgo of operation has been "constantly increasing" twelvemonth implicit year, adding that U.S. tariffs are expected to marque things worse.

In airy of that, getting a interruption connected the income tax paid on construction costs could assistance marque projects much feasible.

"We're successful the pre-sold marketplace ... truthful of course, if the terms costs little for them, past those projects whitethorn proceed," helium said.

People buying caller homes tin present get a rebate connected the GST of up to 36 per cent, to a maximum of $6,300, for homes valued astatine $350,000 oregon less.

For homes valued astatine much than $350,000, and up to $449,999, the rebate is gradually reduced until it reaches zero for homes that are $450,000 oregon more.

LeBlanc said the homes helium builds typically outgo $500,000, making the existent rebate irrelevant to his clients.

"You can't physique a location nether $450,000, therefore, that rebate is not used," helium said.