Montreal Mayor Plante welcomes federal budget, housing measures

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said she was pleased to see new housing measures in the latest federal budget.

On Tuesday evening, he wrote on social media: “I welcome the Government of Canada's budget, which includes strong measures to promote rapid access to social and affordable housing. Montreal will continue to raise its voice with other levels of government and work with them to protect the priorities of the metropolitan area: building more housing, ensuring the stability of the area and improving the quality of life.”

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced a federal budget Tuesday aimed at appealing to young Canadians.

The Canadian government is projecting $53 billion in new spending over the next five years, including higher capital gains taxes on high-income earners and businesses, to ensure intergenerational equity and address the housing crisis.

These new measures seek to accelerate the construction of new homes to address housing shortages, feed low-income schoolchildren, and take the first steps toward a national pharmaceutical program that will initially cover the cost of birth control and diabetes medications.

The government also says it is considering converting government buildings into housing, including land currently occupied by Canada Post offices or the Canadian Armed Forces.

It also creates a $500 million fund to buy unused buildings from provincial or municipal governments to convert into housing.

“I feel that Canadians of my generation and older Canadians want to see young Canadians succeed and have the opportunity to succeed that we have,” Freeland said at a news conference Tuesday.

In Montreal, the budget describes the National Film Board's offices on Côte-de-Liss as soon as 100 residential units.

Je salue le budget du gouvernement du Canada, qui contient des mesures musclées pour favorer un acces rapide à des logements sociaux et abordables.

Continue to manage Montreal and continue to be involved in the partnership…

— Valerie Plante (@Val_Plante) April 16, 2024

At a spring clean-up event in Montreal's Parc de Faubourg on Wednesday, Plante said the overall deficit is not as big as he thought.

“I think as a Canadian it's a good thing,” he said. “I would say that what satisfies me is the political will of the budget to solve the housing problem. It's good news for me that the federal government is putting in a lot of money and that the province is matching the $900 million that the federal government put in earlier this month.”

The Liberal government has run deficits every year since coming to power in 2015.

This year's budget deficit will fall to $20 billion by 2028-29, with no future date to balance the books.

– With Canadian Press files