Vaughan, Ont., Sept. 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In light of the significant headwinds faced by the new home building sector, governments must take action to permanently cut the HST and reduce development charges (DCs) on new home purchases as well as speed up the approvals process, the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) says in a federal pre-budget submission.
Specifically, RESCON is calling on the federal and provincial governments, along with municipalities, to fully eliminate the HST from new home purchases, slash DCs and come up with a more sustainable approach to municipal infrastructure funding and implement initiatives such as digitization to modernize and accelerate the planning approvals and review processes.
“The residential construction sector continues to contend with a challenging market, due to stifling taxation and government-imposed costs, rising rates for material and labour, as well as cumbersome planning approvals processes and overly restrictive regulatory policies that hamper the industry,” says RESCON president Richard Lyall. “This has led to a dramatic downturn in housing construction and job losses, which harms the industry and the economy.
“The cost of building must be lowered, and the process must be speeded up. Builders need to be able to build homes that people can afford. Steps must be taken to get the industry back on track. We need a rebalancing of the housing supply system and to restore the cost of home to four times a household’s income.”
RESCON is grateful and encouraged by the recent public policy decisions undertaken by the federal and provincial governments regarding the interim HST rebates and time-limited actions on development charges and other measures but wants both initiatives made permanent.
Presently, the annual income required to secure a mortgage is beyond the means of most people. The home-price-to-income ratio and the timeline required to save for a downpayment have increased dramatically. Many young people no longer believe home ownership is realistic.
RESCON’s pre-budget submission makes 10 recommendations. Among them, RESCON suggests that:
- The HST be permanently dropped from new home purchases or, at the very least, the original indexing mechanism included in the Goods and Services Tax be implemented fully.
- A more equitable, predictable and sustainable approach to municipal infrastructure funding be implemented that would realign funding sources from new home buyers to the broader tax base at all levels of government.
- The federal government, in collaboration with provincial authorities, fund initiatives that will advance mechanisms to encourage, support, finance and implement advanced modern planning approvals processes and reviews, including digitization, building information modelling, standard designs and more expansive as-of-right building modalities.
Housing will take on critical importance with the federal government having embarked on a nation-building agenda that includes infrastructure related to energy, defence and more. Affordable housing will be needed to accommodate the skilled labour needed to build such projects.
“Sadly, many young people have given up on the Canadian dream of ever owning a home,” added Lyall. “Interim measures just don’t cut it. We must take steps to restore the balance by initiating predictable and stable programs and funding measures to boost the supply of housing.”
The metropolitan Toronto area is beginning to lose young families and entrepreneurs because of housing affordability. Between 2024 and 2025, the region posted a population decline. In the City of Toronto, meanwhile, the number of children under five dropped by 12 per cent between 2011 and 2021. This trend must be reversed.
Click here for the pre-budget submission.
RESCON is the province’s leading association of residential builders committed to providing leadership and fostering innovation in the industry.
