The news comes as Prime Minister Trudeau reveals the makeup of his new cabinet
A new federal housing portfolio has been announced at the swearing-in of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new cabinet at Rideau Hall, with Ahmed Hussen named housing minister in a signal of the government’s intent to tackle Canada’s growing affordability and supply issues.
Hussen – whose full title will be Minister for Housing and Diversity and Inclusion – previously served as Minister of Families, Children and Social Development since November 2019, with the York South-Weston MP also responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in that role.
He was Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship between 2017 and 2019, having first been elected to Parliament as part of a Liberal majority two years prior.
The creation of the new portfolio comes after an election campaign that saw the country’s affordability crisis and red-hot housing demand feature heavily in the three main parties’ platforms.
It’s likely that Hussen will be tasked with implementing an ambitious Liberal housing agenda that includes the creation of a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights. That proposal would see blind bidding banned, a legal right to home inspections established for buyers, and an obligation that banks and lenders offer mortgage deferrals for up to six months in the event of major life events such as job losses.
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The Liberals also pledged during the election campaign to establish an “anti-flipping tax” on residential properties, requiring those to be held for at least a year, and introduce a two-year ban on property purchases by non-residential buyers.
Hussen may also be responsible for reforming the First-Time Home Buyers’ Incentive, a much-maligned program aimed at helping new buyers reduce their mortgage size through a shared-equity approach.
While that program has seen little uptake across the country, the Liberals’ election platform vowed to introduce a “more flexible” approach by offering applicants a choice between the current shared-equity model or a loan repayable at time of sale.
On the supply side, the Liberals have pledged to build 1.4 million new homes, proposing to introduce a new $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund, convert unused office space into housing, and working with municipalities to identify opportunities for underused or vacant properties.
No announcement was made on the minister responsible for CMHC in the cabinet shuffle, although it seems likely that remit will fall to Hussen in his newly created role.
