THUNDER BAY – While pledging to cut GST from the purchase of new homes sold for less than $1 million, Pierre Poilievre also announced that to make up the lost revenue he will cut two government programs: the Housing Accelerator Fund and the Housing Infrastructure Fund.
Mayor Ken Boshcoff told Newswatch on Monday that the City of Thunder Bay wouldn’t have met its housing targets for this year without the Housing Accelerator Fund.
“There's no doubt that the accelerator fund has hugely enabled us to vault forward in addressing our housing needs,” said Boshcoff.
“I would hope that he would reconsider, to accommodate both sectors. And yes, you can do both and both will result in a prosperous country.”
The Housing Accelerator Fund was introduced in the 2022 federal budget with $4 billion available to municipalities to build new homes until 2026-27.
In April, the Liberal government gave the fund a $400 million top-up to help cities with a population of over 10,000 build 100,000 more units, as long as they have a composite land-use planning and development plan.
As for the end of September, the City of Thunder Bay had issued 310 new building permits for new housing units in 2024. That number is expected to rise by the end of the year.
“I see lots of construction going to different parts of the city. It seems there is more going on in lots of different places. It also has incentivized other people to improve their store facades or their buildings to keep pace with the new competition,” Boshcoff said.
If Poilievre is elected prime minister and makes good on his campaign promise, Boshcoff said the municipality would look to other levels of government for housing support.
“We'll look forward to whatever programs they have and try to maximize our community,” said Boshcoff.
During Monday’s council meeting, council voted to ratify its human rights-based action plan, including the temporary village initiative.
The city will use the $5 million from the Renew Thunder Bay Reserve Fund to construct the temporary village project and a tax-supported operating budget of $1.5 million.
The city hopes their gamble will pay off and reserve funds recouped through programs like the Housing Accelerator Fund.
Boshcoff voted against ratifying the human rights based action plan and temporary village initiative, saying more information needs to be collected before Thunder Bay can commit to this approach.
Boshcoff said, “I am certain that, in terms of the social services side of things, that the need will be addressed. The point that we made was that our service area is much larger than our own population who are compelled to do this on our tax base.”
“So, as we make those arguments, I do believe that the other orders of government will be responsive.”
