We Can’t Build Affordable Housing While Taxing It Like A Luxury Tax
How Canada’s tax system can make housing less affordable long before construction begins — by shaping costs, incentives, and development decisions from the ground up.
Show Notes
In this episode, we uncover the real tax burden hidden inside Canada’s housing market — from the HST on new builds to development charges, land transfer taxes, and the layers of government fees that make housing more expensive at every stage.
Before a single shovel hits the ground, developers face stacked taxes, shifting policies, financing pressures, and long approval timelines — all inside a tax system that’s inefficient by design. The maze of fees, rebates, exceptions, and credits confuses buyers, slows projects, and distorts the true economics of building homes.
In This Episode, We Uncover:
• Hidden taxes and fees behind home prices
• Why so much of your housing dollar goes to the government
• HST on new builds: what's actually taxed
• Why GST/HST rebates are limited – and often misleading
• The "change-in-use" rules that trigger unexpected HST bills
• Land Transfer Tax: Related-party transfer traps and deferral rules
• Purpose-built rental GST/HST exemption explained
• Breakdown of the FHSA, HBP, and other buyer incentives
• How tax policy is stalling projects, shrinking supply, and pushing up costs
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