The housing crisis is what poses the “greatest risk to the Canadian economy.” Who says it? Solidarity in Quebec? The NDP? The Communist Party? No. They are business leaders.
Reported by The Canadian Press, according to a survey carried out for the firm KPMG, in Canada, 94% of the 534 business leaders who responded affirm this. In Quebec, it’s 96%.
Even more worrying, 88% “expect inflationary pressures in Canada to persist until the housing shortage and high rents are addressed.” Difficult to be clearer.
When the business community adds to the many voices in civil society that have been sounding the alarm for years, it is because the housing crisis is reaching stratospheric levels.
High priority
Let us quote the press release: “The rise in the cost of living, attributable largely to the cost of housing, requires [les entreprises] to pay more for their workforce and harms their ability to attract and retain talent that is already in short supply.”
Their call? That the Trudeau government’s next budget make it a top priority through “innovative solutions for housing in the public and private sectors.”
It’s up to governments to act
It is of course also up to the provincial governments and municipalities to take urgent action. Doug Ford’s Ontario government budget, despite a $10 billion deficit, plans to invest even more in the construction of housing and infrastructure.
Meanwhile, with its $11 billion deficit, the Legault government’s budget does not make it a priority. In Canada, Quebec is nevertheless the dunce of housing starts.
Its new housing law will also do nothing to curb the outrageous rent increases that more and more tenants are experiencing throughout Quebec.
Now that the business community sees that the crisis even threatens the economy, will it move?
