A re-elected Liberal government will help more Canadians find a home of their own, Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau announced on Tuesday in Montreal.

He noted that Canadians see owning a home as key to building their future and joining the middle class. But with rent increasing and housing prices continuing to rise, too many young people don’t see a clear path to affording the same lives their parents had.

“Canadians should have the chance to own their own home, but for too many it still seems out of reach,” said Trudeau. “While there’s no silver bullet to tackling housing affordability, we have a real plan that will help Canadians save for a new home, build the supply we need, and make the process more fair – for everyone. ”

A re-elected Liberal government will better support renters and help more Canadians buy their first home by:

• Stopping “renovictions” and deterring unfair rent increases that fall outside of a normal change in rent, to help better protect renters.
• Introducing a rent-to-own program to put Canadian renters on the path towards home ownership while renting.
• Helping first-time home buyers save up to $30,000 including by creating a tax-free home savings account to help young Canadians save up for a down payment, and making the incentive for first-time home buyers more flexible.
• Banning foreign investors from buying residential property in Canada for the next two years and taxing vacant foreign-owned homes and land in urban centres to give more Canadians a fair shot.

“Canadians want a fair shot at owning a home,” said Trudeau. “While the Conservatives want to give tax breaks to wealthy landlords and the Bloc thinks the federal government should do nothing to make home ownership a reality, we have a real plan to unlock home ownership for Canadians. Our plan will help first time buyers save for a home, help renters become owners, and ban foreign investors for the next two years – and it will create jobs and grow the middle class. We’re the only team that is moving forward – for everyone.”

Backgrounder: A Home. For Everyone: The Liberal Housing Plan