TORONTO, May 28, 2025 — A coalition of industry leaders is calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to strengthen his government’s newly proposed GST rebate measures by expanding eligibility and implementing reforms that reflect the realities of high-cost housing markets like the Greater Toronto Area and British Columbia’s Lower Mainland.
In a joint open letter released Tuesday afternoon, leaders from eight major organizations — including BILD, Habitat for Humanity Canada, and the Canadian Home Builders’ Association — urged the federal government to immediately revise and enhance the existing GST New Housing Rebate program. Their recommendations were issued just hours before the Carney government tabled a new rebate program focused on first-time home buyers.
While the group welcomed the speed of the government’s response, they expressed concern that the current proposal will provide “limited, if any, benefit” in major urban centres due to sky-high home prices and restrictive rebate thresholds.
“The rebate must be large enough to support the federal goal of 500,000 housing starts per year,” the letter states, urging Ottawa to raise the qualifying thresholds and remove the first-time buyer limitation.
A Call for “Speed, Simplicity, Supply, and Sufficiency”
The letter proposes a four-point framework for reforming the GST rebate:
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Speed: Implement changes immediately and apply retroactively to support buyers and builders currently facing market uncertainty.
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Simplicity: Retain the existing structure to avoid delays and costly overhauls.
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Supply: Ensure that the rebate supports new condo construction, particularly in the GTA where pre-construction sales are slumping.
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Sufficiency: Raise thresholds to $1,000,000 (lower) and $1,500,000 (upper) to reflect today’s home prices, and expand the rebate to 100% of GST.
The proposal also calls on the federal government to consult on inflation indexing and to pressure provinces to offer complementary sales and land transfer tax relief.
Urgent Conditions in the Market
The open letter cites alarming new figures showing that owner-oriented housing starts have plunged to their lowest levels since the 2008 financial crisis. In Q1 2025 alone, starts were down more than 25% year-over-year, with pre-construction sales nearly disappearing in Toronto and Vancouver.
“Canada faces a cost-of-delivery crisis in new home construction,” the letter warns, emphasizing that GST, a tax applied only to new builds, further restricts affordability.
The group argues that the current framework penalizes all homebuyers — including seniors and families — and risks further delaying housing supply. “Exempting only first-time buyers limits the rebate’s usefulness, especially in high-density markets like the GTA where even starter homes far exceed federal thresholds.”
Signatories Representing a Broad Coalition
Signatories include both non-profit and private sector leaders:
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Dave Wilkes, President & CEO, Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD)
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Pedro Barata, President & CEO, Habitat for Humanity Canada
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Kevin Lee, CEO, Canadian Home Builders’ Association
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Dr. Mike Moffatt, Founding Director, Missing Middle Initiative
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Kristopher Mathieu, Executive Director, Canmore Community Housing
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Daniel Ger, CEO, Options for Homes
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Robert Bruno, EVP, Polygon Homes Ltd.
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Beau Jarvis, President & CEO, Wesgroup Properties
They concluded their letter with a formal request to meet with Prime Minister Carney and his housing team as soon as possible to discuss urgent implementation of the proposed reforms.
For more details, the full open letter can be accessed via the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) website.
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