Letter to Editor: Conservatives Will Axe The Sales Tax on Homes 

October 29, 2024 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Dear Editor 

While it used to be normal for working class youth to buy homes, now eighty percent of Canadians tell pollsters homeownership is only for the very rich. Back in October of 2015, the month before Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister, it took only 39 percent of the median pre-tax household income to cover home ownership costs. Now, it takes nearly 60 percent. 

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced this week that as Prime Minister he will axe the federal sales tax (or GST) on new homes sold for under $1 million, a tax cut that will spark 30,000 extra homes built every year. The move comes after housing costs have doubled in the 9 years of the NDP-Liberal government, rising faster than in any other G7 country.  

In some provinces, government charges account for more than 30 percent of the cost of a new home. The federal government takes the biggest share. One such tax is the GST, adding $50,000 in costs to a $1 million home. Poilievre will also push provinces to remove their sales tax from new home sales, which would save tens of thousands of dollars more for homebuyers. 

Common Sense Conservatives will fund this big homebuyers’ tax cut by eliminating $8 billion of bureaucratic programs that Liberals admit have not built a single home. Also, the tax cut will spark 30,000 extra homes built each year, generating more income for construction workers and businesses, and $2.1 billion of revenue for government. 

Only Common Sense Conservatives will bring home Canada’s promise: that hard work earns a powerful paycheque that buys affordable food and homes in safe communities. 

Arnold Viersen, MP 

Peace River – Westlock