12-Month Lobbying Summary - In-house Organization

Subject Matters

• Budget
• Climate
• Consumer Issues
• Economic Development
• Employment and Training
• Energy
• Environment
• Financial Institutions
• Health
• Housing
• Immigration
• Industry
• Infrastructure
• International Trade
• Justice and Law Enforcement
• Labour
• Regional Development
• Research and Development
• Science and Technology
• Small Business
• Taxation and Finance
• Transportation

Subject Matter Details

Grant, Contribution or Other Financial Benefit

• Continued financial support for Canadian Home Builders' Association (CHBA) activities under the R-2000 program, Net Zero Energy Ready and Net Zero Energy programs and Local Energy Efficiency Partnerships program.

Grant, Contribution or Other Financial Benefit, Policies or Program

• Support for housing research, analysis and demonstration projects on topics of priority interest to the residential construction industry, e.g., on housing market trends

Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution

• Allow Net Zero and Net Zero Ready renovations to qualify for the GST/HST New Housing Rebate.
• Amendment of the Excise Tax Act to adopt a permanent home renovation GST rebate
• Amendment to the Underused Housing Tax Act to remove the requirement that builders and developers from having to file a tax return (UT-2900) for newly constructed units when the units are already exempted from the tax.
• Amendments to Immigration Act with respect to transitional rules for some economic class immigrants, undocumented workers, and pass marks for those applying as immigrants to Canada as skilled people
• Amendments to the Excise Tax Act to adopt the single threshold/full rebate model for the GST New Housing Rebate for both home ownership and rental housing
• Modernize Tax Treatment of Joint Ventures in Residential Constructyion
• Opposition and modification of proposed changes to the tax treatment of privately held corporations.
• Update and index the thresholds for the GST New Housing Rebate.

Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution, Policies or Program, Regulation

• OSFI Guidelines for Residential Mortgage Insurance Underwriting Practices and Procedures (B-20 and B-21) - attention to the long‐term fundamentals of Canada’s housing system, as well as the impact on current markets and Canadians opportunity for homeownership, is an essential backdrop to any further federal policy or regulatory actions by the ensemble of agencies reporting to or through the Minister of Finance, and by the Department itself.

Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution, Regulation

• Revise tax rules for accessory suites, such as granny flats and laneway housing, as the current tax system, which incorporates land value rather than just construction costs, and is discouraging this important form of infill housing that is favoured by more and more municipalities. These innovative infill projects increase the number of affordable homes in established neighbourhoods.
• Revise the tax regime to avoid GST being applied to new “purposebuilt” rental developments. This increases rents for tenants and renders the business model for investing in purpose-built rentals less attractive, hence discouraging the construction of affordable rental properties.

Policies or Program

• Adopt affordability as a core objective of the National Building Code and to all related standards.
• Develop a next-generation energy rating system to replace EnerGuide
• Enhance R-2000 standard to reflect improvements in energy efficiency and water efficiency technologies, new building practices and technologies, and other factors that define R-2000 as the leading-edge home building standard
• Ensure that increased energy efficiency requirements under the model National Building Code follow proper protocols prior to adoption
• Ensuring that the National Housing Strategy and the Poverty Reduction Strategy are coordinated, and address the entire housing continuum, from transitional and social housing right up into market-rate rental and homeownership.
• Federal efforts via the Financial Transactions Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) to combat money-laundering as they affect the residential construction industry to ensure that regulations can in fact be implemented given the many small businesses involved in the industry
• Government policies to encourage more Canadians to consider a career in the skilled trades and support the apprenticeship system.
• Greenhouse gas emissions policy with regard to including residential sector savings in any cap-and-trade program and associated compensation arrangements
• Increase and target federal investment in housing R&D to build better houses for the same price or less.
• Modify the Residential Mortgage Underwriting Practices and Procedures Guideline (B-20) - the "stress test" for both insured ad uninsured mortgages to reduce the test rate on a declining basis for 7- and 10-year mortgage terms.
• NAFTA renegotiation - minimize market disruptions from trade disputes with consultation and phased in duty implementation.
• Oppose Canada Post fee for post boxes in new residential developments
• Promote a federal YIMBY (yes in my backyard) campaign. New developments (especially densification and mixed income housing) are often met with local public opposition even when aligned with community plans. A national NIMBY-to-YIMBY campaign can facilitate a smoother transition into the communities of tomorrow.
• Reintroduce 30-year amortization periods for insured residential mortgages for new construction.
• Replacement of the Contract Payment Reporting System with an alternative that requires all participants in the construction industry to register for a Business Number with the CRA, and that pursues those engaging in cash-only transactions much more aggressively
• Seek Federal research on improved environmental guidelines for residential communities to determine more specifically their cost and technological implications for practitioners in the residential cosntruction and development industries
• Support for Canadians in Housing Need - establish a Portable Housing Benefit that ties housing support to individuals, not buildings
• Support local and provincial submissions to the Red Tape Reduction Commission to address issues associated with the Contract Payment Reporting System operated by the Canada Revenue Agency
• Update the federal immigration system to proactively attract much-needed skilled workers in residential construction.
• Work with provinces to have the EnerGuide Rating System (ERS) label on all houses at the time of resale and expand ERS (and its software tools updated) and be promoted so that ERS becomes the backbone of all renovation incentives.
• Working with the home construction industry to support innovation and capital investment to increase industry productivity both for in-site built approaches and factory-built solutions.

Policies or Program, Regulation

• Canada’s Housing Finance System - address stability concerns without causing damage to the residential construction industry or to the economy. Measures to cool markets can easily precipitate economic decline, triggering the very conditions they were intended to safeguard against.
• Financial Institutions: Ensuring that regulations and guidelines relating to the Interest Act and mortgage financing do not create market distortions that undermine housing affordability and choice
• Rigorously enforce provisions of the Income Tax Act and Excise Tax Act in relation to combating the underground "cash economy".
• Support Transit-Oriented Development, Complete Communities and the “Missing Middle” of Housing - To ensure that Canadians get maximum benefit from federal infrastructure investments, the Government needs to support increased supply in the “missing middle” – whether “gentle intensification” via secondary suites, conversion of larger units or medium-density low-rise mixed-income housing, in walkable communities with ready access to public transit.
• Support voluntary programming initiatives like ENERGY STAR, R‐2000 and CHBA’s Net Zero Home Labelling Program enable homeowners to choose higher levels of performance on a voluntary basis, moving the market forward without damaging affordability in entry‐level homes.