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Housing

Question period focused on housing and homebuilding. A Conservative member said slow home construction is costing factory workers hours and income, and argued the government makes housing announcements but is slow to pass the legislation, such as a GST rebate for homebuyers. A Liberal member pointed to cost-of-living supports like the groceries and essentials benefit, child care, dental care and school food programs, and said the government has cut development fees in Ontario, saving families up to $200,000 per home, while investing in building housing.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

Official text

4 statements

Sandra Cobena

Conservative
“Not enough homes are being built, so manufacturing workers are losing hours and cannot afford their bills. I want the government to keep its promise and get homes built so these people can work full-time again.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, Romeo, a man in Aurora, has worked at a window manufacturer for over 30 years. He used to work overtime, in fact. Now he is down to two days a week. Homes are just not being built. He called me worried about his mortgage, his groceries and how he is going to provide for his family. He has heard all the announcements, but he cannot pay his mortgage with the announcements. He is tired of talk with no results. He needs work. When will the Liberal government finally keep its promise and get homes built so parents like him can get back to a full week’s work?

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Leslie Church

Liberal
“Our government is helping families with their everyday costs. We set up programs for cheaper child care, dental care, food money, and school lunches. I want the member opposite to support our work.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, it is exactly Canadians like Romeo and Romeo’s family who are top of mind for us in our agenda and in the work that we are doing to support Canadians at this time. I hope Romeo has access to some of the initiatives we have brought forward, like the groceries and essentials benefit. Perhaps his family has access to affordable child care or to a Canada dental plan, or perhaps Romeo’s kids have access to the national school food program, which helps bring down the cost of groceries for families to the tune of about $800 a year. These are supports we have put in place that we ae going to continue to support, and I would ask the member opposite to help us in that.

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Sandra Cobena

Conservative
“The government makes big announcements about housing, but takes too long to pass the laws to deliver them. This delays construction and leaves people without jobs. I want the government to stop just making announcements and start getting things done.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, this is how out of touch the Liberals are. Romeo is looking for a full-time job, not to line up for programs. In May 2025, the government announced a GST rebate, but for nearly 10 months, it failed to pass the legislation. In the meantime, builders and buyers were left in limbo. The Canadian Home Builders’ Association says construction suffered. This has become a pattern. The Liberals make a grand announcement and maybe deliver later, and in the meantime, families are left without work. Canadians are tired of all the talk with no results. When will the Liberals stop governing by announcements and start delivering—

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Leslie Church

Liberal
“We are taking real action to build more homes. In Ontario, we cut building fees to save families up to $200,000 on a home, and we are spending record amounts of money to build more housing.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, as I would hope my colleague across the way would know, we have actually done some work to try to build houses in Ontario. We have reduced development fees to encourage homebuilding in Ontario, saving families up to $200,000 on the cost of a home. We are doing that while investing unprecedented amounts in building Canadian homes, because we know we need to increase the supply of homes, and that is exactly what we are doing. For my colleague and for Romeo, I hope he knows that we are a government that has his back, and whether it is his home, his family or the job that he is looking for—

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