Trudeau Announces $1.5 Billion Rental Protection Fund

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at a press conference in Saint John, N.B., on Jan. 17, 2024. The Canadian Press/Michael Hawkins

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his government will put forth a $1.5 billion rental fund, which he says will help non-profit organizations buy rental units and keep prices affordable for renters.

The Canada Rental Protection Fund will be included in the upcoming federal budget, to be tabled on April 16.

“People are being priced out of their communities, and that’s not okay. So we have to help nonprofits and community partners acquire units and preserve rents at a stable level,” Mr. Trudeau said during a press conference in Winnipeg on April 4.

The fund includes a loan portion valued at $1 billion and $470 million for contributions to non-profits. The prime minister said the loans for non-profits will be used to buy, renovate, and preserve residential buildings, instead of having the buildings go to speculators or profiteers.

Mr. Trudeau cited the B.C. Rental Protection Fund, which saw the provincial government invest $500 million to support community housing, as a “good proof of concept” of the proposed initiative.

“They recognize that for every new affordable rental home that is built in their province, far more are lost to investors to conversions, to demolition, and to rent increases,” Mr. Trudeau said. “And this is happening in communities right across the country.”

The announcement is one of several demands put forth by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh as part of his “budget demands,” which also included a national school lunch program that the Liberals recently announced would be included in the upcoming budget.

According to the federal government, funding for the provinces and territories will come with conditions, such as adopting the recently announced renters’ bill of rights and allowing multi-unit complexes to be built on residential land in municipalities.

Housing Affordability

Housing and rental affordability has been a key political issue over the last year, with the federal government announcing numerous initiatives that aim to deal with the matter. The April 4 announcement is the latest in a number of housing affordability announcements the Liberals have made ahead of the April 16 budget.

On March 27, Mr. Trudeau announced his government would introduce a new “bill of rights” for renters, which would include a national standard lease agreement and a requirement that landlords disclose an apartment’s pricing history to tenants.

On April 3, the prime minister also announced his government would allocate another $15 billion in the upcoming budget for its Apartment Construction Loan Program, with a goal of building at least 30,000 new apartments within the next decade. That program, launched in 2017, has helped create more than 48,000 homes so far.

According to a report from Rentals.ca, the average rent in Canada for February 2024 was $2,193 per month for all property types, which is a 10.5 percent increase year-over-year. A Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation report from 2023 projected that Canada would need 3.5 million new homes built within seven years to make homeownership affordable again.

With files from The Canadian Press.