Settling in Canada is becoming more difficult. A recent poll showed that over 80%
of newcomers are grappling with affordability issues. Statistics Canada recently
reported that over a third of newcomers are spending over a third of their pre-tax
income on rent.
Earlier this month, the federal government unveiled new policies to increase
housing affordability for Canadians. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced the allotment of $99 million
to the Canada Housing Benefit (CHB), a program that directly administers
money to low-income renters. This put the total amount devoted to CHB at $325
million CAD in fiscal year 2023-2024. Provincial and territorial support plans will
issue the money directly to low-income renters.
The CHB is one of several policies that the government has instituted with an eye
toward making housing more affordable in Canada:
- Endeavoring to build 100,000 new homes in the next three years, the $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund incentivizes municipal governments to remove zoning restrictions and increase the production of housing units;
- Outlining mortgage relief policies and plans for banks to administer, the Canadian Mortgage Charter is catered to home-buyers struggling to pay the mortgage of their principal residence
- The Tax-Free Home Savings Account allows first time home buyers to contribute up to $40,000, tax free, on a down payment for their first home
- François-Phillipe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced new research into different corporate practices that may be impacting access to groceries.
- To support the production of high-quality research on consumer affairs, Champagne announced the government would triple funding to Canada’s Contributions Program for Non-profit Consumer and Voluntary Organizations
The organizations will look into two contentious practices businesses routinely
engage in:
- Shrinkflation: Reducing the quantity of a product while keeping the price the same or higher; and
- Skimpflation: Using less expensive, and generally inferior, ingredients to manufacture what appears to be the same product and selling it at the same price or even higher.
These measures come at an opportune time. Canada is facing a growing cost in
the average cost of living and groceries, and newcomers are struggling to make
ends meet.