Ottawa, ON – After eight years of Justin Trudeau, the cost of housing has become unaffordable. Nine in ten Canadians believe that they’ll never be able to achieve the dream of homeownership, and the cost of rent has become so expensive that one in ten Torontonians are having to rely on food banks.
The cost of a home in greater Toronto is now $1,089,800, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. Before Justin Trudeau, the cost of a home was nearly half that. The massive cost of even a modest home in Toronto is forcing Canadians to save for longer and longer. It now takes 25 years to save up for the cost of a downpayment, while the average cost of a mortgage payment as a percentage of income is now 87.8% in Toronto. The Liberals’ failure to build enough homes has made homeownership impossible for all but the wealthiest few.
On top of this, Trudeau oversaw an increase of 107% in the cost of rent in his eight years in office. In 2015, the asking price for a two-bedroom apartment in Toronto was $1,288 per month. Now, in 2024, the asking price for a two-bedroom apartment has reached a staggering $2,671 per month, according to Rentseeker.ca. Justin Trudeau just isn’t worth the cost.
No wonder that 59 percent of Ontarians worry about paying their mortgage or rent, and 96 percent of Ontarians believe the increasing cost of rent is a serious problem, according to the Fraser Institute.
Despite creating a housing crisis, Trudeau has offered no new solutions, but instead has re-announced today his failed policy that continues to underdeliver for Canadians. Despite already offering $40 billion in loans through this program, with more than half of the available loans still unallocated, the Liberal Government only managed to build 11,000 units since 2017. This isn’t even close to the 5.8 million homes that Canada needs to build by the end of the decade to restore housing affordability.
Housing has become so expensive in Canada because Trudeau is failing to build the homes that Canadians need. Under Trudeau, Canada is building fewer homes than we did in the 1970s when Canada had half the population, yet the Liberals continue to double down on their failed policies.
Only Common Sense Conservatives have a plan to build the homes that Canadians need.