(Quebec) Tax exemption for real estate developers, public mortgage loan program for new buyers, resurrection of the AccèsLogis program and holding of general reports on housing: the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) is proposing several measures to counter the crisis of the dwelling.
“It’s been six years since the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) has been in power and there is still no plan. This is why today, I am proposing several measures that can be put in place quickly,” says Liberal MP Virginie Dufour.
With its strategy, it wants to achieve four objectives: stimulate the construction of private housing, increase the share of “non-market” housing to protect the most vulnerable tenants, facilitate access to property and help cities move projects forward residential.
As for access to property, the spokesperson for the official opposition on housing is worried: the property rate in Quebec is in decline, “a first in more than 50 years”.
She therefore wants the Société de l’habitation du Québec (SHQ) to change its vocation and become a “financial investor”, to be able to lend the difference between a 5% down payment and a 20% down payment to first-time buyers. . This approach would allow these people to avoid paying insurance to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The SHQ could recover its money, with interest, when the house was sold, suggested Ms. Dufour.
To stimulate housing, the PLQ essentially offers a series of tax candies. First, it would return to 50% the capital gains exemption rate that the Legault government increased to follow Ottawa’s decision. This represents a shortfall of 600 million for the Public Treasury, recognizes Ms. Dufour, but it is necessary to stimulate the real estate sector. “The amount of money that would have to be put in, the government will never be able to put it in alone,” she says.
She also wants to exempt the construction of rental housing from the QST, as Ontario does, and “establish a tax rule allowing Quebec real estate investors to defer payment of capital gains tax when they reinvest their profits in the construction of new housing”.
The PLQ also wants to support cities, which are sometimes criticized for not issuing construction permits quickly enough, for example. Ms. Dufour, a former municipal councilor in Laval, points out that infrastructure often limits the power of cities to “open” sectors. “Increasing the capacity of a wastewater treatment plant, running pipes in the ground, it costs very, very expensive,” she illustrates.
She wants a pilot project that would allow private investors, in Quebec and Ottawa, to pay for the infrastructure of new neighborhoods. In exchange, these investors could get their hands on a portion of the property taxes of this new neighborhood for a certain period.
The PLQ also proposes increasing the amount of non-market housing, which is not privately owned, from 8% to 12%. “This is necessary to protect tenants,” says Ms. Dufour. To achieve this, she proposes resurrecting the AccèsLogis program, abandoned by the CAQ in favour of another program that she considers less effective, at a cost of at least $100 million per year more.
Finally, Ms. Dufour wants to hold a general meeting on housing, so that all of civil society can be called upon to “find ideas”, while Quebec finds itself “up against the wall”, and the government has “no plan” to get us out of the crisis.
