Canada has New Measures in Tackling the Housing Crisis.
On 14 September 2023, the Prime Minister Justine Trudeau announced a set of new initiatives aimed at the housing crisis and containing the rise in grocery prices.
This initiative was aimed at increasing rental accommodations, offering assistance to small proprietors and reducing company prices.
New Measures Announced:
To continue taking immediate action in reducing the housing cost across the country, including renter, the federal government will encourage the construction for a much needed rental dwelling by presenting legislation to repeal the Goods & Services Tax (GST) on the new apartment buildings for renters.
In order for their Housing Accelerator Fund applications to be granted, the local government must abolish exclusionary zoning and stimulate the construction of flats near public transportation.
Initiative to support the small business owners.
The Prime Minister also announced that the government will support small company owners and their employees:
- Making adjustments to the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) program by giving a 1-year extension for the term loan repayment, which was initially introduced during the pandemic to help small businesses stay afloat.
For rising grocery prices.
To control the rising cost of groceries, the prime minister said that the government has called the heads of Canada’s top grocery chains for a meeting in Ottawa to begin the discussions.
Furthermore, they are urging these grocery chains to keep the grocery cost stable in the short term. The Federal Government is also considering all available tools, including tax measures, in order to restore the grocery price stability that the Canadians expect.
Additionally, the Canadian Government is also looking forward to taking urgent actions to boost the competition across the Canadian economy, with a focus on the grocery sector, lowering the cost for the middle-class Canadians.
The government intends to introduce a set of legislative amendments to the competition act:
- Give the Competition Bureau the authority to require the submission of material in order to undertake effective and comprehensive market analyses
- Abolish the efficiencies defense, which currently allows anti-competitive mergers to survive challenges if corporate efficiencies offset the harm to competition, even when Canadian consumers would pay higher prices and have fewer choices; and
- Empower the Bureau to take action against alliances that impede competition and customer choice, particularly when giant grocers block smaller competitors from setting up shop nearby.