Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced Monday that as Prime Minister he will axe the federal sales tax (or GST) on new homes sold for under $1 million, a tax cut that will spark 30,000 extra homes built every year and promises big savings for first time home buyers of new homes. Poilievre said he will also push provinces to remove their sales tax from new home sales, which would save tens of thousands of dollars more for homebuyers. Poilievre will remove GST on new homes under $1 million, saving $40,000 or $2,200/year in mortgage payments on a $800,000 house.

By PD Raj – Senior Reporter DESIBUZZCanada

OTTAWA —Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced Monday that as Prime Minister he will axe the federal sales tax (or GST) on new homes sold for under $1 million, a tax cut that will spark 30,000 extra homes built every year and promises big savings for first time home buyers of new homes. 

Poilievre said he will also push provinces to remove their sales tax from new home sales, which would save tens of thousands of dollars more for homebuyers.

The move comes after housing costs have doubled in the 9 years of the NDP-Liberal government, rising faster than in any other G7 country. Back in October of 2015, the month before Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister, it took only 39 percent of the median pre-tax household income to cover home ownership costs. Now, it takes nearly 60 percent. While it used to be normal for working class youth to buy homes, now eighty-percent of Canadians tell pollsters homeownership is only for the very rich and there are now 1,400 homeless encampments in Ontario alone.

In Ontario and British Columbia, government charges account for more than 30 percent of the cost of a new home. The federal government takes the biggest share. In Ontario, about 39 percent of the total taxes on a new home go to politicians and bureaucrats in Ottawa. One such tax is the GST, adding $50,000 in costs to a $1 million home.

Conservatives said they will fund this big homebuyers’ tax cut by eliminating $8 billion of bureaucratic programs that Liberals admit have not built a single home. Also, the tax cut will spark 30,000 extra homes built each year, generating more income for construction workers and businesses, and $2.1 billion of revenue for the government.

This tax cut will save Canadians $40,000 or $2,200 per year in mortgage payments on a $800,000 house AND spark 30,000 extra homes built every year.

For a typical home in Ontario and British Columbia, this will result in savings of $43,225 and $48,160 respectively.