As condominium sales across Canada fall to their lowest levels in decades, what if unsold units could be repurposed for the public good?

Governments should purchase and convert them into much-needed social housing, which includes public, social and co-operative housing, where rents are set at no more than 30 per cent of a tenant’s income.

Toronto and Vancouver face the largest glut of new condos still looking for buyers, with an estimated 20,000 listings in Toronto and 2,500 in Vancouver across all stages of development.

The federal and Ontario governments have introduced a number of incentives to attract condo buyers, including a one-year break on the 13-per-cent HST on new homes priced up to $1 million. The Ontario program offers rebates up to $130,000 for homes valued up to $1.5 million, as well as measures allowing municipalities to eliminate development charges.

How Build Canada Homes can build affordable housing fast Let’s stop calling it a housing crisis This is the moment to fix the mismatch in Canada’s housing supply Why bricks and mortar alone won’t solve the housing crisis

How Build Canada Homes can build affordable housing fast

Let’s stop calling it a housing crisis

This is the moment to fix the mismatch in Canada’s housing supply

Why bricks and mortar alone won’t solve the housing crisis

However, these measures — which will cost the federal and provincial governments more than $2 billion — are misplaced and are only making the housing-affordability crisis worse. They are designed to entice Canadians to take on more mortgage debt in order to save a floundering condo market in a country where average household debt is already the highest in the G7.

Developers and investors are not facing an affordability crisis, yet governments are treating them as if........

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