After eight years of Justin Trudeau, housing has never been more expensive. The Trudeau Government is failing to build the homes that Canadians need, forcing up the cost of rent for everyone.

Although Trudeau has promised Canadians some relief, rent continues to grow more and more expensive. This was confirmed through the February Rentals.ca report, which showed that the average asking rents for residential properties hit a record high of $2,196 in January. This is an increase of 10% from just this time last year.

The cost of rent has spiralled out of control because Trudeau is failing to build enough homes for Canada’s growing population. Canada built less homes in 2022 than we did in 1972, when the population was half the size. As a result of this, vacancy rates have fallen to a 35-year low. And not only are we not keeping pace with population growth, but the number of housing starts are actually slowing down.

This was confirmed by Trudeau’s own Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation today, which reported that housing starts in Canada decreased 10% in January 2024 from the previous month. In fact, the CMHC’s projection for homes built now estimates that the rate of building seen in January compared to just one month ago will mean 25,000 fewer homes started. In Canada’s urban centres, where the housing crisis is at its worst, housing starts decreased by 11%. In Montreal and Vancouver, housing starts dramatically declined by 28% and 55%.

Housing starts have plummeted despite Trudeau’s endless announcements where he travels around the country giving $3.15 billion of Canadians' tax dollars to local gatekeepers through the “Housing Accelerator Fund.” Yet despite the photo-ops, the Liberal Housing Minister has admitted that this same program “doesn’t actually lead to the construction of specific homes,” and not a single home has been completed.

Trudeau doesn’t understand that Canadians can’t live in photo-ops. Only Common Sense Conservatives have a plan to build more homes instead of more bureaucracy and bring homes that Canadians can actually afford.