Federal budget takes aim at housing issues but misses target, says P.E.I. advocate

Billions of dollars are being proposed for affordable housing as part of the 2022 federal budget but housing advocates on P.E.I. say it likely won't make much of a difference on the Island.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled her budget in Parliament on Thursday and set aside $10 billion over five years for housing in Canada.

"It sounds nice but won't really do much," said Connor Kelly, with the P.E.I. Fight for Affordable Housing.

"It really doesn't seem like they understand what the root cause of the housing crisis is."

The budget promises to introduce tax-free savings accounts that would give first-time homebuyers the chance to save up to $40,000. It also includes $4 billion toward a new housing accelerator fund in hopes of speeding up construction and promises a two-year ban on foreign investors looking to buy residential property.

"It seems really poorly thought out ... blaming people in other countries for the problems in our country," said Kelly.

"The big issue is corporate landlords and big landlords, most of which are domestic."

'Big hammer to hit a really small nail'

A real estate broker with Remax Charlottetown agreed that foreign investors are not the main problem on P.E.I.

"That seems like a really big hammer to hit a really small nail," said Mary Jane Webster.

"That really doesn't have any effect on our market."

That market has been tight over the past few years on P.E.I. Prices are climbing and real estate has been selling at tremendous rates.

But even with the budget's proposed initiatives, Webster said she doesn't believe homebuyers on the Island will breathe a sigh of relief any time soon.

"We're seeing the lowest amount of inventory we have in pretty much the history of organized real estate on P.E.I. and that's more of a supply-demand issue than it is anything else," she said.

Trades workers needed

Back in February, data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed rental vacancy rates in the province had dropped to 1.5 per cent.

The Construction Association of P.E.I. said it was pleased to see the urgent need for more homes acknowledged by Ottawa but there's a dilemma — the industry is already stretched thin.

"You can throw all the money in the world you want at housing and stuff but we need people to build it," said Sam Sanderson, the general manager.

"Industry is pretty well running at its max right now and maybe a little bit beyond max."

To put the matter into perspective, when asked how many more workers P.E.I. would need to build more homes at a faster rate... Sanderson laughs.

"A lot," he said.

"We're speculating right now we have well over a thousand of skilled trades shortages on P.E.I."

'Not going to work'

Instead, Sanderson suggests the federal government considers allocating some of that money to programs aimed at getting people involved in the industry.

"I was going to send the prime minister an email tomorrow and say, 'You know what, this is absolutely amazing. It's great to see that. How do we work together, though, in getting more people so we can continue building and build more.'"

For Connor Kelly, the budget suggests the government did not think very hard about solving the housing crisis.

"I can very clearly see these solutions aren't going to solve stuff just based off of, like, five minutes of Googling around," he said.

"Why would the federal government, which has far more resources than some random guy, have a lot of these budget items listed if it's very clear they're not going to work?"