An innovative federal program that makes it more affordable for young Canadians to buy their first home Français

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Canada Revenue Agency

Apr 15, 2019, 16:44 ET

MIRABEL, QC, April 15, 2019 /CNW/ - Our Government strongly believes that all Canadians should have access to safe and affordable housing. That is why we are introducing an innovative tool under Canada's first ever National Housing Strategy.

Today, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue, on behalf of the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Minister Responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), announced in Mirabel a proposed measure to strengthen the National Housing Strategy by making it more affordable for young Canadians to buy their first home.

The proposed Budget 2019 measure will help families take their first steps toward home ownership through a new First-Time Home Buyer Incentive that would reduce the mortgage payments required for first-time home buyers looking to own a home.

Additionally, Budget 2019 would:

  • increase the Home Buyers' Plan withdrawal limit from $25,000 to $35,000, providing first-time home buyers with greater access to their Registered Retirement Savings Plan savings to buy a home
  • expand the Rental Construction Financing initiative to increase the construction of rental units in communities across Canada
  • invite communities and other groups to propose initiatives that break down barriers limiting new housing through a new Housing Supply Challenge that aims to provide new resources to find new solutions to enhance housing supply and provide a platform to share these models with communities across Canada

Quotes

"Home ownership is out of reach for too many Canadians. With the measures introduced in Budget 2019 and the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, that further strengthen the National Housing Strategy, we are delivering an ambitious plan that creates much-needed new housing, protects the affordability of existing homes and includes new support for first-time home buyers."
-The Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue

 "Through the National Housing Strategy, more middle-class Canadians - and people working hard to join it - will find safe, accessible and affordable homes. Our proposed measures will make it more affordable for young Canadians to buy their first home and will help strengthen the National Housing Strategy, ensuring that it delivers concrete results for the benefit of all Canadians. "
-The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Minister Responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

"I am very pleased with the measures put in place by the federal government with the recent budget announcement for first-time home ownership. Many citizens of Mirabel will be able to use this financial help. For the past few years, Mirabel has had among the highest demographic growth in Quebec and has a population that is among the youngest in the province, with an average age of 35."
-Jean Bouchard, Mayor of Mirabel

"Through the design of the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, officials at the Department of Finance and CMHC have worked hard to develop a program that is balanced. One that achieves our objectives of helping first-time buyers without undoing the progress already made through measures that prevent excessive borrowing and limit house price inflation."
-Evan Siddall, President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Quick Facts

  • To help make homeownership more affordable, Budget 2019 introduces the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive.
  • The Incentive would allow eligible first-time home buyers who have the minimum down payment for an insured mortgage to apply to finance a portion of their home purchase through a shared equity mortgage with CMHC.
  • CMHC would offer qualified first-time home buyers a 10 per cent shared equity mortgage for a newly constructed home or a 5 per cent shared equity mortgage for an existing home.
  • This larger shared equity mortgage for newly constructed homes could help encourage the home construction needed to address some of the housing supply shortages in Canada, particularly in our largest cities.
  • The Incentive would be available to first-time home buyers with household incomes under $120,000 per year. At the same time, participants' insured mortgage and the Incentive amount cannot be greater than four times the participants' annual household incomes.
  • For a family buying a $400,000 home, this program could save them as much as $228 per month or more than $2,700 a year.
  • Details of the program are being finalized by CMHC and will be announced later this year.
  • The Government of Canada is currently rolling out its National Housing Strategy (NHS)—an ambitious 10-year, $55 billion+ plan that will create 100,000 new housing units and remove 530,000 families from housing need, as well as repair and renew more than 300,000 community housing units and reduce chronic homelessness by 50 percent.
  • The NHS is built on strong partnerships between federal, provincial and territorial governments, and on continuous engagement with others, including municipalities, Indigenous governments and organizations, and the social and private sectors, to make a meaningful difference in the lives of Canadians.
  • As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. CMHC's aims is that by 2030, everyone in Canada has a home they can afford, and that meets their needs.

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SOURCE Canada Revenue Agency

Émilie Gagnon, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of National Revenue, 613-299-5412, [email protected]; Valérie Glazer, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, 819-654-5546, [email protected]; Audrey-Anne Coulombe, Media Relations, CMHC, 613-748-2573, [email protected]; Media Relations, Canada Revenue Agency, 613-948-8366

Related Links

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/

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Canada Revenue Agency

Related Organization(s)

Government of Canada