Building More Homes, Faster
Great news for Ottawa! We’re working with the City of Ottawa to fast track the construction of over 4,400 homes in the next three years. We’re building more affordable homes for Canadians, and stronger, more inclusive communities that leave no one behind.
And, we didn’t just announce the construction of 4,400 houses, we announced an affordable, long term plan to build communities that people can call home.
Background:
Building more homes, faster and strengthening health care for rural Canadians
Today, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, and the Honourable Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development, announced the federal government’s economic plan is taking action to build more homes, faster in rural communities and attract the doctors and nurses needed to improve rural health care.
First, to build on the success of the Housing Accelerator Fund, which is cutting red tape to fast-track the construction of more than 550,000 new homes over the next decade, the federal government is today announcing it is finalizing agreements with more than 60 small and rural communities. Combined, these agreements will deliver more than $176 million to fast-track the construction of over 5,300 homes in the next three years, and more than 51,000 homes over the next decade for rural Canadians.
As part of these Housing Accelerator Fund agreements, small and rural municipalities will create action plans to accelerate permitting processes and remove other barriers, to speed up construction. Municipalities will also implement initiatives to:
unlock municipally-owned land to build homes, particularly affordable homes;
deliver the required municipal infrastructure to enable more home construction;
incentivize redevelopment on underused land;
build more Accessory Dwelling Units (additional homes on a lot already occupied by a main residence); and,
support energy efficiency to lower energy costs.
Second, to deliver stronger public health care for rural Canadians, the federal government is increasing by 50 per cent student loan forgiveness for rural doctors and nurses. This increase delivers up to $60,000 in loan forgiveness for family physicians and family medicine residents and up to $30,000 for nurses and nurse practitioners working in under-served rural and remote communities. Over the next decade, increased loan forgiveness is expected to attract nearly 1,200 more doctors and 4,000 more nurses to rural communities across the country.
Today’s action will help rural Canadians find the homes they need at prices they can afford and access the high-quality, universal public health care they deserve close to home. By working with provinces and territories and municipalities to build more homes and strengthen public health care, the federal government is using all available tools to deliver for Canadians.
