Prime Minister Mark Carney announced today that the Canadian government will be eliminating GST for first-time homeowners.
He is doing this to help young Canadian families afford buying a home during the ongoing housing crisis.
Because demand has gone up, and supply has not been able to keep pace, prices are high and this initiative will help mitigate the cost of taxes on top of an already expensive purchase.
Specifically, there will be no GST for homes priced at, or under $1 million. This will save Canadians up to $50,000 in taxes, with the GST rate being at 5%.
According to Carney, eliminating GST on first homes will also have an effect on increasing supply by spurring the construction of new homes that are under $1 million across Canada.
“Our government is laser-focused on lowering costs for Canadians and making homeownership a reality,” said Prime Minister Carney.
“We will announce a series of new measures to increase housing supply shortly. It’s time for focused action to solve the housing crisis, and it’s time to build a Canada you can afford.”
According to the prime minister, the Canadian government wants to tackle the housing crisis and has this endeavour at the top of their priority list.
