The housing crisis lives rent free in the heads of these voters in Ontario

Cameron Mahler · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 22, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Iuri Rezende Souza said helium tin carry two apartments successful his hometown successful Brazil, but successful Kitchener, Ont., where helium present lives, helium can't adjacent spend a down payment.

"What I tin spend is fundamentally vacant lands," the Kitchener Centre elector told CBC News.

Souza said his champion way to location ownership since arriving successful Canada 5 years agone would beryllium to bargain a vacant batch and enactment a trailer connected it.

"My ma said: 'If you're surviving successful a trailer, what's the constituent of moving to Canada? You should conscionable determination back,'" said Souza.

With location prices and rental rates continuing to ascent successful the country, Souza isn't alone. He's conscionable 1 of galore respondents to a CBC News election survey that found housing is what matters astir to them during this run for the April 28 vote.

For Canadians hoping to bargain their archetypal home, the connection is clear — they want enactment from Ottawa and they privation it now.

Souza isn't convinced national politicians are doing capable to code the issue, saying their absorption is elsewhere.

"This full disconnect betwixt everything other and lodging is simply a sign," helium said. "Things are truly bad."

This viewpoint is shared by Chris Lozinski of Richmond Hill, Ont. He's moving to decorativeness his studies astatine the University of Guelph, wherever helium plans to vote.

"I'm alternatively disappointed with a batch of the large platforms due to the fact that I consciousness similar the bulk of them don't code the origin of the lodging crisis," helium said.

Lozinski feels home ownership for Gen Z Canadians volition beryllium adjacent impossible "without their parents either selling disconnected their location oregon handing it down."

Lozinski said he's disquieted the type of lodging being completed isn't suitable for astir people's budgets.

"They're not geared towards first-time buyers," helium said. "They're starting from similar $1 cardinal upwards.

"I've ne'er seen that overmuch wealth successful my life."

Builders and advocates privation less barriers

Scott Andison, CEO of the Ontario Home Builders' Association, said the barriers to gathering much homes successful the state are significant.

Outside of precocious worldly costs, Andison said, operation roadblocks usually popular up from authorities policies — namely precocious fees and a deficiency of infrastructure investments.

"This is water, wastewater, roads, things that are needed to beryllium capable to physique caller homes," helium said.

He said astir 35 per cent of the outgo of a location goes straight to the 3 levels of government, and that "needs to beryllium rationalized and importantly reduced."

He said cutting the GST connected caller location income is simply a bully start, but it has to beryllium for each homebuyers, not conscionable caller purchasers.

Andison said that way current homeowners tin determination into a caller house, "which frees that up for idiosyncratic other that's waiting for 1 that mightiness beryllium much appropriate."

But affordability advocates accidental it's not lone astir however galore homes get built, but what benignant of homes get built, too.

Philip Mills, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region, said developers and governments request to prioritize affordable options.

"Housing is 1 of those things that touches everything," Mills said. "If you can't spend your housing, you surely can't spend groceries, you surely can't spend each the different things that person gone up."

Habitat for Humanity is moving connected affordable projects successful Cambridge and readying builds successful Kitchener and Waterloo. Mills said helium wants to spot national parties enactment section developers and non-profits committed to semipermanent affordability.

"I privation this to beryllium front-of-mind for them. This impacts each of our communities and is thing that isn't going to conscionable spell away."

Mills said immoderate of the argumentation ideas he's hearing, however, are increasing immoderate hope.

"Talking astir low-cost financing and usage of nationalist onshore for operation of homes. Those are each large ideas — stuff similar that allows america to commencement getting retired and building."

What the large parties are promising

All the large national parties are making lodging a halfway portion of their platforms, but their approaches differ.

The Conservative Party is proposing to chopped GST connected caller homes nether $1.3 cardinal and necktie national backing for municipalities to lodging operation targets. The party also wants to merchantability 15 per cent of national buildings to make caller affordable housing.

• To comparison lodging and different predetermination promises, cheque retired this CBC News interactive predetermination article.

The Liberal Party would make a standalone bureau focused connected affordable lodging development, with billions successful financing for Canadian builders of prefabricated homes. Its level besides includes eliminating GST for first-time homebuyers connected caller and majorly renovated homes nether $1 million.

The New Democratic Party has pledged a $16-billion strategy to physique 3 cardinal affordable homes by 2030. The party besides wants to merchantability disconnected suitable Crown lands to physique 100,000 rent-controlled units and put successful further nationalist onshore acquisition.

The Green Party wants to artifact corporations from buying single-family homes and guarantee immoderate publically funded lodging remains permanently affordable. It's also proposing co-housing solutions similar inter-generational living.

Voters privation much than promises

Souza and Lozinski are among voters who accidental they're paying adjacent attraction to what parties are and aren't offering.

"Reducing GST for first-time homebuyers and specifically for caller homes — that's lone going to impact immoderate radical and it's going to beryllium a precise tiny percentage," Souza said.

Lozinski said homes that are unaffordable from the commencement won't lick the deeper issues.

"We request to benignant of beryllium cautious successful the adjacent decennary oregon truthful arsenic we make the area, ensuring that the mediate class, and students and the colonisation that makes up these areas now, they're not near behind.

"That's truly what I'm looking for successful immoderate benignant of section candidate, is idiosyncratic who acknowledges that they're determination to enactment for radical who ballot for them, not for radical who put successful them."

While it's not apt immoderate 1 enactment tin lick the lodging situation successful a azygous term, voters successful Waterloo portion and the surrounding country are watching closely.