Conservatives take aim at Carney in new ad as Liberals appear to narrow polling gap

OTTAWA – Liberal leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland will tie immigration to the availability of housing in her plan to address the housing crisis.

The former finance minister made the pledge in a 10-point policy document her campaign released Monday. Freeland said the move would slow population growth until housing prices stabilize.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilier has long promised to tie immigration to the number of new homes built.

Under the federal government’s current immigration plan, the number of permanent residents entering the country would decline each year, to 365,000 by 2027. Previously, the government had aimed to admit more than 500,000 permanent residents annually from 2024 to 2026.

The link between immigration and housing construction is not the only similarity between Freeland’s and Poilier’s plans.

Freeland has called on cities to reduce development costs to lower the cost of housing, threatening to cut federal infrastructure funding if they don’t.

Poilier has made a similar proposal, saying she would tie federal aid to municipalities to the number of homes built in each area.

Both candidates have promised to eliminate the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on new home purchases for first-time buyers. Freeland said the tax break would apply to new homes priced up to $1.5 million, while Poilier has limited the cap to homes priced under $1 million.

Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantzman put Poilier’s tax break proposal to a vote on Dec. 10, 2024, but it was defeated by the Bloc Québécois and the Liberals, including Freeland herself.

Freeland has also said that if she becomes Liberal leader and becomes prime minister, she will ban landlords from using artificial intelligence to analyze tenants’ personal data and set rents.

The New Democratic Party (NDP) has been raising the issue since September last year, asking the Competition Bureau of Canada to investigate what the party says landlords are using AI to “unlawfully increase rents.”

The Competition Bureau has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Other parts of Freeland’s housing plan build on existing Liberal policies, including increasing the annual tax-free savings account limit for homebuyers from $8,000 to $10,000 and providing funding for more prefabricated housing.

Freeland is one of five candidates running in the Liberal leadership race to succeed Justin Trudeau, and has made several policy proposals to stand out in the race.

Last week, Freeland’s challenger, Mark Carney, promised incentives for the construction of prefabricated homes but did not provide details of his plan.

Earlier this month, another leadership candidate, Karina Gould, promised to expand housing co-ops, “fast-track” the construction of prefabricated homes and offer a $2,000 tax credit to first-time homebuyers.

Former MPs Frank Baylis and Ruby DeHala are also in the race.

Baylis’ campaign spokesman said he will release policy statements this week to outline his plans ahead of the election debates on February 24 and 25.

The Liberals will choose their new leader and next prime minister of Canada at a convention in Ottawa on March 9.

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