Trudeau announces $15B more for apartment construction loans

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday the next federal budget will include a $15-billion top-up to the federal government's apartment construction loan program that aims to boost construction of new rental housing in Canada.

The Liberal government also intends to reform the low-cost financing program's criteria to increase eligibility and leverage the soon-to-be $55-billion program to encourage provincial and territorial partnerships aimed at boosting rental housing construction.

Trudeau's "Canada Builds" announcement is the latest in a string of campaign-style announcements that are expected to continue until Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tables Budget 2024 on April 16.

"Canada Builds is going to turbo-charge affordable apartment construction in partnership with provinces and territories," Trudeau said at a news conference in Toronto. "It will provide low-cost loans, help speed up development and build projects of the scale necessary to meet the urgent needs of Canadians."

"We're going to make the entire pot of funding available for matching partnerships and territories that come to the table with ambitious and fair housing plans," said Trudeau.

If provinces and territories want to access the federal financing, they will also need to meet benchmarks set by a recent federal-B.C. partnership to build thousands of rental units.

These include commitments to build on government, non-profit, community-owned and vacant lands and a commitment to streamline processes to cut development approval timelines to no longer than 12 to 18 months.

The $15-billion top-up to the Apartment Construction Loan Program (ACLP) follows another $15-billion top-up announced in the federal government's fall economic statement. With the new cash infusion, the program now aims to finance the construction of over 131,000 new rental units across Canada by 2031-32.

The government says since its launch in 2017, ACLP has committed over $18 billion in loans to support the construction of more than 48,000 new rental units.